An (Un)welcome Surprise
by withgirl
Summary: Emma rushes back to Storybrooke as fast as she can once she has her memories back. She is eager to get back to the girlfriend she left behind, but what she finds when she gets there may just destroy the saviour or make her life better. [Regina x Emma pairing] (Now a magic baby fic with a twist XD)
1. Chapter 1

"Mom, slow down," Henry laughed, Emma relented only slightly as she eased on the gas pedal. "What's the rush?"

Emma swallowed hard, she knew exactly why she was rushing to get back to Storybrooke, the issue was that her explanation would only cause her amnesiac son to have her committed.

"The boy is right, love, I believe I read about something called the highway code," the pirate said, his hand clutching the dashboard with white knuckles.

"What is with this guy?" Henry whispered, though Hook heard him and replied with a scowl.

"He's...not from around here," Emma supplied, to be fair she wasn't lying, the boy just huffed and fell back, returning to his game.

Having heeded the passengers complaints, Emma brought the bug down to the speed limit, though she could feel her anxiety rise with each passing minute: she just wanted to be back home.

Eventually she relaxed as the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign came into view. Uncontrollably, she pressed down on the pedal slightly, wanting to get to Main Street as quickly as possible.

"Why are we here? Henry asked with a furrowed brow, he had lived in a city all his life, he thought that his mother would be allergic to a small town. It was for this reason that he felt extreme confusion as he saw a spark of happy recognition while the blonde inspected the buildings.

"I told you, I have an assignment," Emma replied absentmindedly. "Ho...Killian...can you take Henry to the B&B, I have something I need to take care of."

Hook looked longingly at the blonde, knowing exactly who she wanted to see, he just gritted his teeth and muttered his consent.

* * *

Pulling up to Milfin Street, Emma ran up to her former home.

Running through the door, she called, "Regina!"

The blonde furrowed her brow as she got no reply, she was sure that the brunette would be here at this time.

Taking the steps two at a time, she burst through the bedroom door. Everything looked like the day she had been forced to leave, everything except for the presence of her girlfriend.

With a watery smile, she walked over to the closet to find her red jacket. She had looked for it everywhere once she got her memory back, but now she realised that it couldn't be anywhere but in her real home.

Running a hand over a picture of their first date, she sat heavily on the bed, and pulled out her phone.

Dialling the familiar number, she instantly got a message that the number had been disconnected.

Swallowing, she tried another number, hoping that for some reason the new curse came with new phones.

"Hello?" her mother's voice asked, and though she was pleased to hear it, Emma's chest tightened as she realised that there must be something wrong with the mayor.

"Snow," Emma breathed.

"EMMA!" Snow shouted excitedly, and a moment later, she heard her father's voice came over the cackling loud speaker.

"When did you get here?" he asked with a cheerful voice.

"About fifteen minutes ago, is Regina with you?"

Emma heard Snow's breath hitch and she felt a pang in her stomach.

"What is it?" Emma urged, desperately trying to not allow tears to spring forth without permission, _she's fine,_ she told herself.

"You should come to the hospital sweetheart?"

"Why?"

"Just come and-"

"Why?" Emma demanded again.

"Emma honey, you don't want to hear this over the phone. Your father and I are already here, do you want us to come and pick you up?" Snow asked kindly.

The possible scenarios of what had happened began to run through Emma's mind, and she knew that she couldn't waste time in a car, and she knew that she probably didn't want to hear bad news over the phone. Thinking back to the various magic lessons Regina had given her, though most had been very informal, she managed to allow her light magic to spring forward. A moment later, she materialised in a hospital room, with her parents standing in front of the bed, completely obscuring her view.

The first thing she noticed was her mother's swollen stomach, after looking at it for a few moments, she decided that file that away for later.

"Tell me, what happened" she insisted.

Her parents each took a moment, they honestly weren't used to Emma having magic yet, especially considering the blonde only usually used it for cheap parlour tricks that her girlfriend admonished her for.

"We don't remember," Snow sighed.

Emma closed her eyes in frustration and asked through gritted teeth, "what?"

"Everyone in town seems to have a year's worth of missing memories," Charming explained, "it was like you left and we woke up in any other day in Storybrooke, except..."

When the prince trailed off, Emma just kept telling herself that Regina was fine, "except?"

Charming and Snow exchanged a look before they each stepped away to reveal the hospital bed.

Emma let out a ragged breath as she was proven wrong, Regina was very much not alright.

Physically she looked fine, there was not even a scratch on her beautiful olive skin.

However the queen did have a tube running down her throat that the blonde vaguely recognised as life support.

Emma fell into the plastic chair next to the bed, and brought a shaky hand to rest on the sleeping woman's arm.

"Whale now is not the best time," Charming whispered behind the blonde, though she turned sharply to see the clearly terrified doctor.

"Now is the best time," she corrected, which caused her father to deflate. "What's wrong with her?"

"That I'm afraid I can't answer that."

"Then why are you here?" Emma asked sharply.

"Emma..." Snow said weakly, though she totally understood her reaction, Charming just put a supportive hand on his wife's shoulder.

Whale swallowed hard, and continued, "I don't know the cause, but my scans have revealed that..." Emma nodded in encouragement and the doctor said as gently as he was capable of, "the scans showed minimal brain activity."

"Meaning?" Snow asked.

Emma fell back in her seat, feeling her happy mood had been completely destroyed, she answered the question directed at the doctor, "it means that she's brain dead."

 **A/N So this is just something I randomly dreamed up, please feel free to let me know what you think.**

 **Continuation will be based on reviews :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Hey guys, so I'll be honest...I had no idea where I wanted this fic to go lol so I morphed it with another idea that I had, hopefully you guys think that it works :)**

Chapter two

Half an hour passed in silence as Emma continued to stare at the seemingly sleeping brunette.

Snow and Charming continuously shared looks, clearly trying to tell whether Emma would be prepared for what they had yet to tell her.

Eventually, Emma asked, "what is it?" without even turning to look at her parents.

Snow bit her lip, and sighed, "there's something else."

Emma closed her eyes trying to fight away tears, "whatever it is, I don't care."

"Emma..." David tried.

Standing from her chair, she felt herself finally snap, "no villain bullshit can possibly be more important than this," she shouted, the little drops of tears finally spilling down her cheeks.

Snow nodded vigorously and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

Emma's immediate reaction was to tense, until the familiar caring touch reminded just why she had sped so quickly to get back to her family, and she fell forward into a hug, which David joined after a moment.

The blonde sobbed silently into her mother's shoulder, until she finally felt herself begin to calm down. Whale had gone on to explain that Regina had a very small chance of waking up. In that moment, all Emma could imagine were the hope speeches that her parents would feed to her as she sat next to her comatose girlfriend day after day. She couldn't imagine just exactly what the news meant, because, no there was no way that Regina could ever be gone. She was the strongest and most resilient woman that Emma had ever met, and she refused to believe that anything could bring her down.

Pulling away slightly, she looked over at Regina and realised that she would probably kill her if she allowed Storybrooke to go to hell before she woke up. It was for this reason that she asked with a sigh, "what's the other crisis?"

"It's not a crisis," Snow frowned, she honestly had no idea how to break this news to Emma, by all rights it should be a happy occasion, but the little matter of her true love being just out of reach put a damper on the whole thing.

"Well, when we woke up...we couldn't remember anything..." Snow began.

When the woman stopped, her husband continued, "everything looked normal, except the obvious..." he laughed as he gestured to Snow's rounded stomach, "but then we heard this crying noise. We were pretty certain that the baby couldn't have been ours..." he chuckled.

Snow rolled her eyes, and took over, "anyway, that was when we realised that we were in Regina's house. So we went to the living room and there was this...crib. The baby girl looked about three months old."

Emma furrowed her brow, she had to admit that this was certainly strange, "so the curse sent a baby to the wrong house?"

Snow shook her head, "I don't think so..."

Charming and Snow once again shared a cautious look, and Emma growled in frustration, "will you just tell me?"

"She has chocolate brown eyes, and a little bit of blonde hair," Charming answered slowly.

Emma's eyes widened and she fell back into the plastic chair, turning to face Regina, she sighed, "you have got to be kidding me, Gina."

* * *

 _"We are not naming our child Apple," Regina rolled her eyes, continuing to apply moisturiser in front of her mirror._

 _Emma sat up in their bed and pouted, "I thought it would be cute."_

 _"I thought your throat constricts at the thought of having another child," Regina chuckled._

 _Emma nodded forcefully, "it really does," she pretended to choke and Regina just rolled her eyes, finally joining her girlfriend in the bed, "I'm talking about way, way, way in the future."_

 _Regina snuggled into Emma's side, "nice to see that fear of commitment has gone."_

 _Emma brought her arm around the smaller woman, "hey, I'm talking about it, plus we live together. I think I've made progress."_

 _Regina smirked, placing a sweet kiss on her cheek, which made Emma grin dopily before she shook her head._

 _"Anyway, why not Apple?"_

 _"Because it's idiotic," Regina sighed, laying down with the blonde's arm now circling her waist._

 _Emma fell back too, and tried to explain herself, "it's like symbolic."_

 _"Oh of course, how silly of me," Regina laughed, "let's name our child after the thing I used to poison her grandmother."_

 _Emma's eyes widened, and grumbled, "fine, how about Snow?" Regina continued to stare at her in disbelief before she let out a dramatic sigh, "Henry is named after your dad, why can't our hypothetical daughter be named after my mother?"_

 _"Do I really need to answer that?"_

 _"Fine...you make an excellent point..." Emma sighed, "do you have any suggestions?"_

 _"I believe that you have the right to name our hypothetical child," Regina chuckled, not quite believing how ridiculous this conversation was. She had casually mentioned to Emma that two women could have a baby through magic, which naturally freaked her girlfriend out. Now after days, she seemed to be warming up to the idea of actually discussing the future like an adult. "I named Henry."_

 _Emma chuckled, "that was probably for the best, I was going to named him Bart."_

 _Regina raised her eyebrow asking for an explanation._

 _"I was eighteen, and The Simpsons played a lot in prison. So when I thought about maybe keeping him, his name was always Bart because I thought it would make him cool."_

 _"In what world would 'Bart Swan' be 'cool?" Regina laughed, earning a laughed from the blonde._

 _Emma rolled her eyes with a smirk. Though it had taken time, she had eventually begun to talk to Regina about her past, granted she was the only person in town that knew that much about her, she still found it refreshing to get Regina's personal brand of affection as opposed to the usual sympathetic looks she would usually get._

 _"Well then Henry dodged a bullet, Henry Daniel Mills does sound a lot more..professional."_

 _Regina just shook her head._

 _Silence fell over them, before Emma finally said, "Tamsin."_

 _"Tamsin?" Regina asked with a furrowed brow._

 _"Thomasina," Emma clarified, "but we would call her Tamsin obviously."_

 _"Why Tamsin?"_

 _Emma swallowed hard, hoping that this wouldn't sound strange, "it was the name of the social worker who looked after me in prison. She got me into therapy, which I hated at the time, but she did other things. She helped me with making sure Henry didn't end up in the system. When I turned eighteen, I expected her to just say her goodbyes and leave me to my own devices, but she got me a receptionist job at her office, she said that she didn't want the system to have completely ruined my life."_

 _Regina nodded, wishing that she could thank this Tamsin, who seemed to have had a role in bringing her Henry, "Tamsin it is."_

 _"Thomasina Swan-Mills," Emma laughed after a moment, not quite believing that it would ever happen._

 _Regina hummed contentedly, slowly allowing sleep to take her._

* * *

Emma hung back, feeling indescribably nervous.

She had always imagined that she would meet her next child on the day of their birth, not three months later because of some curse. She also imagined that Regina would be there, though she had never actually considered which of them would have been giving birth.

Shaking her head, she proceeded into the Charming's apartment, noticing all of the baby equipment. _Must be why I never noticed it at home,_ she thought realising that her parents must have been uncomfortable at the thought of staying at Milfin street, even if it was for their grand-daughter.

Ruby looked up from the couch, and offered her blonde friend a supportive smile, knowing that this probably hadn't been the best of days for the saviour.

"She's sleeping," Ruby whispered, as she gestured to the crib next to Snow's bed.

Emma nodded, still trying to process everything, and just allowed her feet to take her over to the new arrival.

Looking down, the sleeping child made a small babbling noise, and Emma felt something that she was sure must be maternal instinct, and she had to say that she liked it. She instantly felt a connection with the child, and though she couldn't see her eyes, she could imagine the dark chocolate orbs showing the world who her other mother was.

At the thought, Emma stumbled away from the crib.

"I can't do this," she whispered, "I need Regina."

"Emma..." Snow said hastily, as she just about managed to not make enough noise to wake the child.

Emma shook her head, imagining Regina holding the child, knowing exactly what to do, and laughing at Emma for being freaked out at every stage.

Emma's boot hit the leg of a table, and instantly a wailing came from the crib, causing the blonde to stand shell-shocked.

Ruby quickly jumped over, picking up the child whose name they didn't know, she desperately tried to rock her soothingly though it only seemed to make things worse.

As soon as the distressed child came into view, Emma felt guilt consume her. She couldn't stand the thought of this little person being so sad or scared. So, armed with her fake memories of raising Henry, she walked over slowly.

After some hesitation, she took the baby, who continued to wail controllably.

Snow and Charming watched in wonder, as Emma softly rocked their grand-daughter, whispering something that they couldn't hear, though the child calmed somewhat she still continued to cry.

"It would probably help if we knew her name," Ruby sighed, she had been having this issue all day, it was a rather strange experience, she had to admit.

Emma looked down at the crying child, and felt tears come up in her own eyes as she said, "it's okay Tamsin, mommy's sorry she woke you."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed :)**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

"This way," Hook instructed, and Henry followed him dutifully. Though at first he's instinct was to distrust the weird pirate-like man, he had come to see that he was actually alright.

"Why can't we stay in the B&B again?"

Hook rolled his eyes, and replied, "because your mother got back in touch with some old friends that offered you a more comfortable place to stay."

Henry raised his eyebrow, he couldn't help but think that the man seemed to be reciting a script, but he decided that anything would be better than the scratchy sheets. Now all he wanted to know was why his mother had failed to make an appearance all night, she had barely every let him out of her sight, and now she was just leaving him with this man that he met about 12 hours ago.

Hook knocked at one of the apartment doors, much more quietly than most people would have, and a moment later, a flustered woman with a pixie cut appeared, "Ho-Killian," she sighed in relief.

"Are you alright, love?" Hook asked with a curious look, he and Henry followed her into the living room, the pirate's gaze instantly going to her swollen stomach.

"Henry?" someone said excitedly.

Said boy looked up to see a blonde man smiling broadly and he furrowed his brow, "hi...err..."

David blinked a few times from his position at the stove, and quickly said, "David...Emma has told us so much about you."

"That's weird, she never mentioned you."

Mary Margaret tried not to smile at her grandson's perceptiveness, and added, "we only recently reconnected."

Henry nodded and tentatively took a seat on the couch, he tried to ignore his instinct to sit back, he just didn't know why he was so comfortable in this apartment, but he was determined to find out as soon as possible.

"Where did you meet?"

"In prison," Snow blurted out, and tried not to wince.

"Really? What were you in for?" Henry asked sceptically, the woman seemed far too nice to be sent to prison, let alone survive there for long.

Mary Margaret gulped and replied, "banditry."

Henry narrowed his eyes, but the sound of boots hitting the floor made him look up to see his blonde mother coming down the stairs holding a little bundle of blankets.

"Mom," Henry said to get her attention, all of which seemed to be focused on the babbling baby that she was smiling happily down at.

Emma looked up to see her son looking at her with a patented Regina look, and she desperately tried not to break, though she was sure that she had no tears left.

"Hey, kid," she smiled.

Charming came over to his daughter, and much to her relief took the baby so she could talk to Henry, though she was having trouble coming up with a lie considering that the baby clearly couldn't be Mary Margaret's, then she figured that she could just tell a half truth.

Coming over, she sat next to the brunette and watched as Hook tried to make coffee with one hand, and just silently laughed, before turning back to her son.

"Whose baby is that?"

"A...friend of mine is in the hospital, Tamsin is her baby."

"What happened to your friend?" Henry asked, suddenly feeling bad for all of his doubts, he knew that his mother didn't make friends easily.

"...Car accident," Emma replied after a moment.

Henry nodded, and looked sympathetically over to the baby, he couldn't imagine growing up without his mom, and he knew from the few stories he could remember Emma telling him, just how brutal the foster system could be.

"Is that why we're here?" he asked after a moment.

Emma nodded, figuring it would be a lot easier than pretending that she would be one a case for the duration of their trip. She already had enough on her mind after all, she had Tamsin to look after, she had to try and get Henry to remember, and she needed to kill whoever hurt Regina.

"Is that alright?" Emma asked tentatively.

Henry nodded vigorously.

Emma quickly hugged him, and stood up, "well, I'm off to visit her."

For a moment Henry thought that he had to go with her, he didn't know why, but he felt an indescribable pull to see his mother's friend.

"Can I come with you?"

Emma was taken aback for a moment, as she took Tamsin out of her father's hands, she managed to compose herself after a moment, "of course you can."

* * *

Henry sat next to the hospital bed, waiting for Emma to come back, she said that she needed to talk to the doctor, so he had agreed to sit and wait. Tamsin had been left with Mary Margaret and David, and Henry had tried to wonder why Emma had been so reluctant to leave the baby, but the moment he had walked into the hospital room, all other thoughts had fallen away.

It was for this reason that he now stared intently at the familiar woman, watching as her chest raised and fell, but gave no indication of life other than that forced upon her by the life support.

At first he thought that seeing anyone in this position should naturally make him feel this way, but he knew that couldn't be it. The thought of this 'Regina Mills' dying was not something that he could imagine living with, and he told himself it was because it would hurt his mother.

Pulling his chair closer, without thinking about what he was doing, he leaned forward. Gently, he wiped an eyelash away from her cheek. He stilled his hand, as he realised what he was doing, and slowly retracted it.

The sound of a cane tapping the floor tore him away from the brunette, and he turned to see a suited man looking at him sadly.

"Hello?" he asked with a slightly croaky voice.

The man sighed like he had just realised something, "you must be Henry...Swan," Henry nodded, and he walked into the room, "Mr Gold."

"It's nice to meet you," Henry said in a small voice.

Gold took a seat next to his grandson, and looked at the mayor sadly.

There was a time when he wouldn't care at all about Regina's health, but after Cora's visit came with certain life altering revelations, he would now do anything for the woman.

"How do you know Mayor Mills?" Henry asked after a moment.

At that moment, Emma walked in and offered Gold a small wave which he returned with a genuine smile, which fell away when he turned back to Regina.

Henry furrowed his brow, but just turned to his mother, "what did the doctor say?"

"No change," Emma sighed and fell into the chair next to Gold.

Henry looked back at Gold, "hey you never answered my question," he said as gently as possible.

Gold looked at his grandson, and wondered if anyone would ever be able to explain their family tree to him, but just shook his head and replied, "She's my daughter."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

 _"Are you okay grampa?" Henry asked cautiously._

 _Following Neal's death, Mr Gold had opted to spend as much time with Henry as possible, so he had taken him on as his apprentice. Dressed fully in a suit that he was sure Regina must have picked, the boy slowly swept the floor as the pawn store owner stared off into space._

 _He knew that he should be glad for the quiet that had ascended upon Storybrooke since the saviour and queen had become an official kind of hero like team, but there was something else on his mind, and for once it wasn't Neal._

 _Mr Gold looked up, and offered Henry a weak smile, "what do you say you take a half day? I have something I need to do."_

 _Henry nodded, somewhat reluctantly._

 _"Is this about Cora?"_

 _Gold sighed with a slight nod, no one had actually told Henry about what Cora had done before being locked away by her daughter, and he was determined not to be the one to tell him since he had yet to accept it himself._

* * *

 _"It is nice to have visitors, dear," Cora said as Gold approached the holding cell._

 _"Believe me, dearie, this is not for pleasure, I simply demand answers," Gold replied, the sound of Emma scurrying away to give him his promised privacy filled the station, before an oppressive silence fell._

 _"I believe that I have already answered all of your possible questions."_

 _Gold stood somewhat away from the Queen of Heart's cage, and with a tightened jaw, he asked, "did Regina know?"_

 _Cora shook her head, "of course not, if I ever told her of her true parentage she would have simply have told Leopold and married the dreadful stable boy. I take it she hasn't been very receptive to the idea of having a twisted imp as a father."_

 _The Dark One felt his cane shudder under his tightened grip and he desperately tried to take a calming breath. He had spent so many years training Regina to become evil so he could return to his child._

 _The irony now weighed heavily upon him. He had literally spent his life ruining his daughter's life, unknowingly he had almost sacrificed one child for another, and in this moment it felt awfully pointless considering Neal's death._

 _"She hasn't uttered one word to me," Gold deflated with a sigh, he couldn't help but feel that he had an obligation to right what he had done to Regina, but there didn't seem to be any possible way._

 _"She can be quite stubborn," Cora chuckled languidly, "honestly, she doesn't make the best of daughter's, just look at old Henry's fate."_

 _Gold took another breath, and exhaled for as long as possible. He knew that Henry Sr. was a major part of Regina's rejection to the idea of him being her father. She had after all, already had a loving father. One who didn't train her in dark magic, make her take lives, cause her misery at every turn. One who had given his life for even the slightest chance of happiness._

 _"Have you ever considered that you never made the best of mothers?" Gold asked angrily._

 _Cora tilted her head with a small smirk, "forgive me, I forgot that I'm talking to father of the year. How is Baelfire?"_

 _With a wave of his hand, a glowing red orb appeared in the imp's hand, instantly he began to apply pressure to the organ._

 _Cora began to choke, and she fell back onto the cot clutching her chest, "Rumpel..."_

 _An image of Baelfire asking him where Milah was flashed into Gold's mind, and instantly he released his grip, making the woman let out a sigh of relief._

 _"I am truly surprised Rumpel, who knew that the possibility of another child could disarm you so quickly."_

 _Gold ignored her and continued to stare at the glowing heart._

 _He knew that he could just crush it right now and come up with some excuse for Regina, it wasn't like she was willing to even talk with him at the moment. But then another thought occurred to him._

 _He was well aware of Regina's wish to have a loving mother, hence the woman's ability to so easily manipulate her._

 _With a few moments of silence passing very slowly, Gold finally made his decision._

 _Waving his hand, the cell door opened._

 _Sure that she had finally reached the end of her life, Cora stood from the cot prepared to face it as regally as possible._

 _Instead of what she had expected, Gold sank his hand into her chest. Giving the heart one last agonising squeeze, he released it and retracted his hand._

 _Cora's eyes widened, and she fell back onto the cot, her regret rendering her unable to speak._

* * *

-Present day-

 _This shop is awesome._

Emma smiled down at her phone, Gold had clearly seen her anguish had only been amplified by Henry's confusion, so he had offered Henry a job to 'pass the time'.

Emma was sure that Belle was currently desperately trying to explain something magical in the most normal way possible.

"Are you okay Emma?" she heard her mother ask softly.

Emma looked up and realised that she had been standing outside the door for a good ten minutes.

She offered Snow a weak smile, and nodded, "I'm having Tamsin withdrawal," she tried to joke, which caused her mother to smile slightly. "Is she awake?"

Snow opened the door fully and nodded, "yeah."

Emma walked in to see the baby nowhere in sight, "where is she?"

"She had a diaper incident," Emma chuckled and fell onto the couch.

"So did you guys find anything interesting in Regina's vault?"

Snow shook her head, and walked over to the kitchen to prepare some hot drinks, "all that got done was organising the books into 'useless' and 'maybe' piles."

Emma sighed, "maybe I could come tomorrow? I just feel so useless staring at her for hours on end."

Snow nodded in understanding, and grabbed the cinnamon, which caused Emma to smile.

A gurgling sound caused her to turn to the direction of the bathroom door, and she smiled broadly as she saw her happy daughter.

"I believe she belongs to you dear," the woman holding Tamsin smiled.

Emma sighed in relief at the familiar face and made her way over to the baby, "thanks Cora," Emma smiled as Tamsin was passed into her arms. "Gold took Henry to the pawn store by the way," the blonde commented after she kissed her baby's forehead.

Cora nodded, "I'll continue my research then," she sighed.

Emma furrowed her brow, "have you been to see her yet?" she asked as softly as possible.

The former Queen of Hearts swallowed hard and shook her head, "I have, I just can't again just yet."

Emma nodded, she fully understood. She could tell that the woman was afraid of judgement; she had been since she'd had her heart returned. She certainly had a lot to make up to Regina, but no one could blame her for not wanting to be faced with her comatose daughter.

Skilfully, Emma balanced Tamsin in one arm, and put her arm around the other woman's shoulder leading her over to the couch.

"Believe me you've done more than enough," Emma assured.

Cora nodded sadly and looked at the smiling baby.

"It won't be enough until my grand-daughter meets her other mother."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed XD Reviews would be much appreciated**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

 _Regina slowly ran a finger down her daughter's face, who was slowly falling asleep, fully satisfied from her meal._

 _She smiled broadly at the happy girl, despite her joy at seeing the child, each moment of the past couple months had been somewhat bittersweet._

 _At least during the last two months she had Tamsin herself to make her feel better about the whole situation, but the nine months before had been nothing but torture._

 _Despite her parents' best efforts, nothing had been able to make her feel better as she imagined having her child without Emma there to support her._

 _When she had imagined being pregnant with Emma's child, she thought that the blonde would be with her the entire time, but instead she was stuck with her irritating charming parents who never knew the right thing to say no matter how much they tried._

 _Tamsin gurgled happily, as Henry had done many times in his infancy, and Regina had to blink away tears. There was a time that she didn't care that Emma had missed Henry's childhood, but since they had been together she had seen just how much the fact bothered the blonde, now each time Tamsin did something particularly cute, Regina would feel guilt consume her for getting to see it._

 _The former queen felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Cora smiling sadly at her granddaughter, "are you alright dear?" she ask softly._

 _Regina shook her head, and pulled Tamsin closer. Not for the first time she noticed that the baby had the same nose and chin as Emma and Henry, and she just wished that one day looking at her child wouldn't make her feel utterly miserable._

 _"No," Regina said simply, Cora was about to say something, but her daughter promptly stopped her, "I've had enough hope speeches for the day."_

 _Cora chuckled and came and sat next to her, "that's why I'm here; Snow mentioned that she talked to you, so I assumed you would be irritated."_

 _Regina smirked slightly at her mother, before she sighed and placed her head on her shoulder, "everything was perfect."_

 _"Don't dwell on what could have happened, just look to the future."_

 _"What future? One where Emma and Henry have no idea that we exist or one where my sister tries to take my child?" Regina snapped._

 _Cora winced and Regina deflated._

 _"It's not your fault mother."_

 _The older woman sighed and lightly stroked Regina's hair, "it certainly is my fault, which is why I won't let anything happen to you or Tamsin."_

 _Regina nodded, surprisingly her mother's words were much more reassuring than they had ever been before, but she still knew that Emma's probable threats to punch Zelena in the face would make her feel much better._

* * *

"So do we just sit here and wait?" Cora whined.

Emma rolled her eyes, though she internally smiled as she realised that Regina would probably say the same thing, "there's not much else to do, Cora."

The form Queen of Hearts scowled at the woman that she thought might as well have been her daughter-in-law, and had to resist the urge to slap her around the back of her head.

"What makes you so sure that this will help?"

"Villains are predictable," Emma explained, ignoring the scoff she continued, "we spread the rumour that we have a nearly complete memory potion, they'll show up to get it, it's an old bailbonds trick."

Cora smirked, making Emma furrow her brow, "what?"

"I was just thinking about how Regina ended up with a bailbonds...woman, rather than the royal that I had always hoped for."

"Hey..." Emma began feigning offence, "I'm a princess."

Cora looked down at the woman's clothes, and slight slouch, which resulted in Emma shifting uncomfortably in her seat, "I assure you, dear, I didn't mean it as a bad thing. Believe me, the comment was made out of relief. I do not mean to besmirch your grandfather..."

"Besmirch away," Emma laughed, making the other woman smile.

"You have no love for Leopold?"

Emma shrugged and leaned back.

Snow had told her a lot about her grandfather, but so had Regina. She was sure that she should have conflicting feelings about the man, but everything that her mother had told her was so obviously from the point of view of a child, that she couldn't even try to imagine them.

"It's more very cold indifference."

Cora nodded in understanding, "my point was that I'm glad she has you."

Emma raised her eyebrows and chuckled, "you didn't seem too fond of me before."

"I was being protective," Cora retorted, "and you are rather uncouth."

"Why does every Mills say that?" Emma sighed, causing the other woman to laugh.

"I'm sure Regina finds it endearing, dear."

"The word she used was cute," the blonde said proudly, "she blamed me all day for making her say that word."

Cora chuckled and they fell into a comfortable silence as they each thought about the brunette mayor, though their reminiscence was soon interrupted by the sound of smashing in town hall.

With a wave of her hand, Cora brought the pair to the office.

They each caught a glimpse of a black coat, before the woman disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

Cora let out a growl of frustration and Emma fell back against the wall, "at least we know it's a woman," she sighed.

The other woman furrowed her brow and walked over to the cabinet full of failed potions that she had spent a day making.

"What is it?" Emma asked, pushing herself off the wall she came and stood next to her.

"I sealed this," she replied, shock dripping through her voice.

"So...whoever we're dealing with is like really powerful?" Emma sighed, _why can't things ever be easy?_

Cora shook her head, as she ran her hand over the broken rune that she had place upon the wood, "it's a simple spell to break, but..."

"Cora, you're freaking me out," Emma almost shouted as the woman stopped talking.

" It was blood magic, only one of my close relatives would be able to break the seal."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed :)**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated, and I haven't mentioned her yet in this story, so I need to thank QueenApples for being an amazing beta XD**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

 _"There has to be another way, Regina," Emma said desperately clutching onto the brunette._

 _The mayor looked back at the approaching cloud of magic, and a stray tear found its way down her cheek, "you know there isn't Emma."_

 _"So you expect me and Henry to just live without you," the blonde countered, bringing her girlfriend as close as possible._

 _Regina shook her head, "I can change your memories."_

 _Emma's eyes widened as she realised what the woman was suggesting, "I don't want to forget you."_

 _"It'll make it easier," Regina replied, as she brought her arms around the taller woman's shoulders, and placed a small peck on her lips. "I want you to be happy."_

 _"That won't be possible without you."_

 _"That's exactly why you won't believe that you gave Henry up, you'll remember his childhood," Regina reached up and swept a tear away, "you can be happy."_

 _"But it'll be a lie."_

 _"You'll be alive and happy."_

 _"Regina..." Charming warned, and she turned to see that the curse was not far away, with a sigh she released Emma, who was promptly replaced by Henry._

 _"I love you mom," he mumbled against her coat, Regina stroked his hair and dropped a kiss onto his forehead._

 _"I love you too, my little prince."_

 _Henry continued to cling to her as she walked him over to the metal death trap. She kissed him again, before he reluctantly walked over to the car door._

 _Regina turned around, and lips instantly crashed into hers. The brunette allowed herself to melt into the kiss for what could be the last time, before she finally slightly pushed Emma away, though they were still exceptionally close._

 _"The moment you cross the line, you'll have your new memories, and everything here will have never have existed."_

 _Emma nodded in understand, though her lack of acceptance was clear._

 _"I love you, Emma."_

 _The blonde held her hand, and smiled sadly, "I love you, too."_

* * *

 _A moment later, mother and son were each in their seats. The pair took their last looks at their family, the moment the wheels crossed the town line, Emma no longer worried about the fact that Regina's hands were protectively clutching her stomach._

"Did you know there's something called cradle cap?" Mary Margaret asked in horror as she looked through the pregnancy book.

Henry looked up from his game for a moment, and held back a sigh.

Emma had asked her parents to look after Henry and Tamsin, so they had split up since he had work and somehow she had ended up with her sarcastic grandson rather than her adorable granddaughter.

Henry sighed dramatically, and mumbled something about going to the restroom.

Mary Margaret dropped the book to the table, and rolled her eyes at the teenager's back.

"Cradle cap goes away," someone interrupted, and Mary Margaret's head snapped up to see an unfamiliar red headed woman smiling brightly at her.

The pregnant woman returned the smile, feeling surprisingly reassured, she pointed to the seat which the other woman promptly took.

"Thank you," she sighed in relief, she seemed to finally have someone that cared about her worries.

"I can see that you're nervous, dear," she laughed, "I'm just glad that I can help, everything in this town is just so strange, I'm relieved that I know something someone else doesn't."

"You didn't come with the first curse?" Mary Margaret asked, clearly trying to figure out who she was.

The red headed woman shook her head, and replied, "I awoke to find twenty eight years had passed, I must admit was strange, I wish I could have spent that time here, it seems much lovelier than I had heard."

Snow nodded in agreement, "since the curse broke, I'll admit Storybrooke is the better option, Snow by the way."

"Zelena."

"So what were you..."

"Oh, nothing of note, you certainly wouldn't have known a lowly midwife, but I would still like to offer my services."

* * *

"You had another daughter?" Emma blanched.

Cora rolled her eyes at the blonde, though she could feel the burning eyes of her granddaughters other grandparents upon her. Except Rumpel of course, he was still occupying Henry.

"Why did you never tell us?" Snow asked.

For a moment, Cora saw the resemblance to Eva, and tried to say as calmly as possible, "you never asked."

Snow rolled her eyes, and Charming placed his hand on his wife's shoulder, "so the villain is Regina's sister?"

The former Queen of Heart's eyes widened, she hadn't quite yet considered the implications of the information. Now, however, she had no doubt that the person that had hurt Regina was her other daughter.

"It's a possibility," Cora managed to reply.

Emma looked sympathetically at the woman, and said, "what happened to her?"

"I don't know, I sent her away to Oz," she sighed.

Emma's eyebrows shot up, and her parents looked at her curiously.

"Oz is a real place?"

Everyone in the room nodded, and Emma groaned in frustration.

"The Wicked Witch of the West," she said.

"What?" Cora asked.

"The villain from Oz is the Wicked Witch."

"Wonderful," Cora rolled her eyes, though internally her stomach clenched at the thought of what her first child had become.

Snow blinked a few times before she turned to Emma, "it's lucky Regina gave you magic lessons then."

Emma bit her lip, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth, "I didn't learn much."

Cora rolled her eyes at the blonde, though she was secretly thankful that the conversation course had changed, "well then meet me at Regina's vault in an hour."

Emma hit her head on the counter as the woman walked away, Regina was tough, but she was genuinely afraid of her mother probable teaching styles.

* * *

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed XD**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

 _"You have to allow the magic to flow through your body, allow it to become just another part of you and then you should naturally be able to bring it forth to cast a spell," Regina explained as she looked through a magical tome. Looking up, she saw her blonde student flicking small pieces of paper across the table, and raised her eyebrow, "are you even listening?...Emma!"_

 _Emma's head snapped up from her position at the kitchen island and she pouted under the disciplinary stare she was receiving from her girlfriend, "what's up, Gina?" she asked innocently._

 _"Why aren't you listening?"_

 _"I was totally listening," the younger woman protested, quickly pushing the pieces of paper away._

 _"You were not even looking at me," she scowled._

 _"I didn't want to get distracted," Emma protested._

 _"What?" Regina asked with an exasperated sigh._

 _"If I looked at my hot girlfriend, I would obviously get distracted," she retorted with a somewhat wolfish grin._

 _Regina rolled her eyes, even though she had a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, "you have to learn to use your magic Emma."_

 _"Why?" the younger woman whined, and made her way around the island to place her hands around the smaller woman's waist._

 _Regina brought her hands up to her girlfriend's neck, and replied, "we don't know for sure that Pan will stay trapped in that box, we need to be prepared. It's not as if you learned much in Neverland."_

 _Emma sighed dramatically and pulled Regina closer, "Pan is trapped, it will be fine, and I'll have you know that I can now light a candle."_

 _"I'm sure that will terrify the next villain that comes along."_

 _Emma pouted again, and Regina leaned up to capture her lips, which made her smile goofily before she shook her head and pointed out, "we've had a few of these lessons, and I haven't learned anything. Obviously you're not a very good teacher," she teased._

 _"Even the best of teacher's fail with unreceptive students."_

 _"I'm not unreceptive," the blonde whined and pulled Regina even closer, "I just need a less hot teacher so I don't get distracted."_

 _"Or maybe you could stop being a hormonal teenager."_

 _"You forget Regina," Emma smirked, and placed a kiss on the woman's pulse point, just before whispering close to her ear, "I have seen you naked."_

 _Regina moaned slightly, before quickly pulling back, "I'm being serious, you have to learn."_

 _"Serious, huh?" Emma asked with a quirked eyebrow, and she placed another kiss on the other woman's neck, causing her to let out a small breath of resignation._

 _"I suppose it can wait," she sighed, and crashed their lips together, before swirling purple smoke transported each to their bedroom._

* * *

Emma tentatively walked into Regina's vault and smiled fondly at how many times she had been called a 'child' in this building, before it turned into a pang of sadness. All she wanted was to have Regina back, and if she were being honest, spending time with Tamsin had become a close second to that. But instead of being with her children (though being around Henry was a bit odd since he had taken to asking how 'Regina' is), she was heading into a magic lesson with the Queen of Hearts.

The blonde quickly took a steeling breath, and entered the vaults main room where she found Cora casually flicking through a book.

"You're late," she commented, and snapped the book shut.

Emma looked down at the time on her phone, and sighed, "by ten minutes, come on Cora," she laughed nervously.

Cora rolled her eyes, and beckoned the blonde over to the counter that she was standing in front of, and asked, "so what do you know?"

"Party tricks," Emma said timidly, before making small fireworks appear above her hand.

"How useful," the older woman said sardonically, and pushed the book towards her, "do you at least know elfish?"

Emma shook her head, and Cora sighed exasperatedly, "this is going to take longer than I thought."

Two hours later, Cora had given the saviour an introduction to magic, explaining the different schools, and demonstrating a few basic spells.

Finally, she said, "what type of magic do you think you would be best at?"

Emma shrugged, and replied, "light magic."

"I meant sub-type."

"Sub-type?" the blonde winced.

Cora scowled, and pinched the bridge of her nose, before replying, "I just explained this, Emma."

"It's only been two hours," she retorted, "I need to process."

"You won't have time to process in battle," Cora ground out.

"I usually have a gun...or a sword, I don't find magic that helpful," Emma said sheepishly.

The other woman raised an eyebrow, before a thought suddenly occurred to her and a huge grin adorned her face.

"What are you planni..." Emma began, before she was enveloped in bellowing smoke and found herself in one of the forest clearings. "Cora?" she asked tentatively to the woman standing on the other side.

"Prove to me that your magic is unhelpful," she called and waved her hand.

The first thing that Emma registered was that she was suddenly holding her father's sword, which reassured her for a moment before she heard a little spitting sound.

Clutching the sword tighter, she refused to look away from the ground for fear of what she might find in front of her. After a few moments a crescendo of hissing and spitting began to fill the clearly, and she looked up to be met with a symphony of earth shattering roars.

Instantly, she vaguely recognised what it was, but she couldn't quite place its name.

It resembled Maleficent's dragon form, with a few major differences. For one thing, it was much smaller, but still towered over the saviour, for another, there were no wings on its back, and last but not least, it had three heads!

All three of its mouths began hissing as it approached the stumbling blonde.

"All you need is a sword, remember?" Cora called, and Emma nodded, quickly finding her footing, she stood her ground.

At the last moment, she dodged to one side, coming up on the monster's left, she slashed for all she was worth, managing to cut off all three of its heads.

With a sickening plop, the three heads fell to the ground, and Emma let out a breath of relief, placing both hands on her knees, "told you," she called.

Cora didn't respond, and Emma was about to look over at her questioningly, before she noted movement next to her.

Her head snapped back towards the beasts writhing body, noting that the heads had disintegrated, she turned back to the body, where the neck stumps were beginning to elongate. Emma tried to grip the hilt of the sword tighter, but it suddenly disappeared and looked at Cora incredulously.

Finally, each of the necks sprung up to reveal two new heads upon each of them, and the blonde finally realised what it was.

"A hydra, are you kidding me?" she called.

"Who doesn't love classicalism?" Cora retorted.

"People who have their swords stolen."

"Bring it back then, just clear your mind and command the object back into your hand."

The blonde jumped away from the six snapping jaws and began to back away from it, "you expect me to clear my mind?"

"I expect you to be able to use your magic in any situation; you have no idea what you could face."

Emma's back hit a tree and she let out breath of shock, watching as the beast came ever closer, she pictured the weapon she needed and almost begged it to appear, but nothing happened.

"Cora, I can't do this, just get rid of it," she called desperately.

"Use your magic or die," the older woman replied firmly.

The hydra raised its clawed hand, trapping the saviour against the tree, and all six of its heads roared, savouring in taunting their prey.

 _"You have to allow the magic to flow through your body, allow it to become just another part of you and then you should naturally be able to bring it forth to cast a spell."_

Emma's eyes widened as the familiar words came forth in her mind. With Regina's voice urging her to cast the spell, she felt an unexplainable calm overtake her body. Just as the beast was about to begin it's feast, an explosion of light sent it sprawling across the forest floor.

With a flick of her wrist, the sword returned to her hand, and with one swift move Emma sliced off the six heads.

"Impressive," Cora called and walked over to the prone body, "but if myths are to be believed you have one more task to truly defeat it."

The blonde nodded, and shook her hands, before bringing each of them up and taking a deep breath. The smell of burning flesh filled the clearing and a moment later, she looked down to see all of the necks sealed, unable to regenerate.

Cora clicked her finger and the corpse disappeared.

"Not as hopeless as I thought," she chuckled, as the blonde went to lean against a tree.

 **A/N Sorry this update took so long, I have no excuses I was just being lazy haha but I hope this chapter makes up for it XD**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

 _"You would really be okay if I married Walsh?" Emma asked casually not looking away from the TV screen as she and her son battled a dragon._

 _Henry shrugged, "I think so."_

 _"How can you 'think so'?" she asked with a small nervous laugh._

 _"I think he's great, it's just..." Henry trailed off and paused the game and turned to his mother, "I feel like you should be with someone else."_

 _Emma placed the controller on the coffee table and turned to face her son, and with a tilted head she asked, "who?"_

 _Henry shrugged again and replied, "you told me about the woman from your dreams."_

 _"It was just a dream," she smiled sadly, "she doesn't exist."_

 _"Then why do you dream about her every night?"_

 _"She's just a figment of my imagination, kid, Walsh is real."_

 _"But if you wanted to marry him, would you really be dreaming about someone else?" he asked._

 _Emma rolled her eyes and fell back against the couch. She had sincerely hoped that dating someone would stop the painful dreams. Of course during them she was more than happy, it was the waking up and finding that the nameless woman was not beside her that hurt the most._

 _"I dreamed about her before I met Walsh," she answered rather petulantly._

 _"But, if she did exist, don't you think it would be so romantic if you found her and fell in love for real, it would be like true love or something."_

 _"So your argument is that I should say no on the off chance that this woman is magically real, this isn't a fairytale kid," she laughed._

 _Henry furrowed his brow for a moment at her wording, before he finally shook his head and sighed, "I guess you're right, fine marry Walsh."_

 _"Please try to contain your excitement," Emma replied sardonically._

 _Henry shrugged one more time and grabbed his controller, Emma was about to do the same before a knock at the door caught her attention._

 _The blonde quickly ruffled her son's hair and made her way over to the front door._

 _With a stretch and a yawn, she yanked it open, quickly taking a step back at the sight she was met with._

 _The one handed man looked somewhat familiar, with his leather overcoat and hook, she couldn't help but think of him as Captain Hook. When she considered this to be correct for a moment, she quickly shook her head, and inspected the envelope in his hand._

 _"Who are you?" she asked cautiously, looking back to make sure that her son was still safely on the couch enjoying his game._

 _Hook took a moment to look at his friend, who he very obviously had deeper feelings for but had agreed to put them aside in order to maintain their friendship. Honestly the feelings weren't as painful since Emma's suggestion of asking out Tinkerbell, even if Pan's curse had prevented their actual date, he still had something to look forward to when they got back to Storybrooke besides pining over the very unavailable blonde._

 _"Killain Jones," he replied politely, "I have a very important message." He punctuated his point by handing her the envelope._

 _Emma looked at him sceptically, before the curiosity got the better of her and she tore the seal. It didn't take long to realise that the contents was a pile of photographs._

 _She raised her eyebrow at the man looking at her expectantly, and turned them over. Immediately, her doubt fell away and her eyes widened as she saw her in the photos. There was image after image of herself, Henry and the mystery woman, looking very happy almost as if they were some kind of family._

 _"She is real," Emma whispered to herself, looking back up to Hook she asked accusatorily, "where is she?"_

 _He dug into his pocket and brought out a phial of blue liquid, "this will help you remember everything."_

 _"Take the liquid from the crazy man, no thank you," she replied instantly realising how foolish she was being, she took a step back to close the door._

 _The man instantly put his foot in the way and whispered, "it's the only way that you can remember Regina."_

 _At the name, the blonde threw caution to the wind and downed the potion after promptly grabbing it._

 _Everything flashed before her, and for a moment she felt completely overwhelmed by the conflicting memories. However, it soon became clear that as good as the fake ones were, the real ones had a much happier ending._

 _"Hook," she breathed, which earned her a look of relief._

 _She quickly shot a look over her shoulder to see Henry looking at her curiously, though he didn't seem to have seen her drink the potion, so she took a deep breath and announced, "come on, kid, we're going on a road trip."_

* * *

Emma stretched, feeling her shoulder crack slightly where the Hydra had thrown her against the tree and simply rolled her eyes.

Sitting up slightly, she brought the sleeping child closer to her body and looking over at the sleeping adult in the bed next to her plastic chair.

"Hey Tamsin," she smiled as she saw the child finally opening her sleepy eyes.

The baby gurgled happily when she saw her mother and began making little grabs for the blonde locks.

Emma sighed, wishing that Regina would just open her eyes and see how adorable this was, but instead she just grabbed a bottle from her bag and heated it up with her magic, Regina's words still running through her mind as she did so.

Tamsin instantly latched onto the bottle and began to happily take mouthfuls of the milk, after a few minutes she finally finished and Emma wiped her face with one of the many wet wipes her mother had packed in the stroller.

Bringing her up, she lightly patted her back, the baby emitted a small burping noise a few seconds later, and Emma smiled sadly.

"You're missing this, Regina," she sighed with tears shimmering in her eyes, wishing that her love could see this precious time in their child's life.

Of course, the saviour didn't feel the hand on her shoulder, nor did she hear the reply, "I haven't missed a moment."

 **A/N Hope you guys liked the chapter XD**

 **Just to let you guys know I was challenged by PerditusFic to see how fast I can write, so I'll be updating three fics today XD so I need to thank QueenApples for her usual help as my beta and also I need to thank Quindecim for helping out today**

 **Reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

 _Regina opened her eyes with a ragged sigh._

 _For a moment she looked around her surroundings, and then blinked a few times as nothing but oblivion surrounded her._

 _The events of the past year suddenly came back to her, and she fell back against an invisible wall with a sigh._

 _"Am I dead?" she said to herself._

 _"Technically?" came a reply._

 _Regina's head snapped to her right side, and she just stared at the man for a moment, before launching forward and hugging him._

 _"Daddy," she said happily as the hug was instantly returned._

 _After a minute of allowing herself to be happy, she pulled back and asked, "technically?"_

 _Henry Sr. smiled sadly and allowed his arms to fall to his side, "your body is being preserved by Rumpelstiltskin, but your soul has left it."_

 _Tamsin and Henry instantly came to Regina's mind. Of course, Henry would probably never even find out that he lost his mother, but Tamsin would have to be raised by the grandparents, never knowing either of her mothers unless the two idiots succeeded in their plans to re-enact the curse._

 _"So I am dead," she sighed resignedly._

 _Henry smiled and shook his head, "I believe that the saviour and her family often defy impossibilities."_

 _Regina rolled her eyes, which caused her father to laugh._

 _The former queen stood in silence for a moment, if the curse was to be restored, she had no doubt that Emma would try and find a way to bring her back, but she also knew first hand that this would not be possible and would only lead the saviour on a downward spiral._

 _Regina felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she finally asked the question that had been weighing on her mind for a while, "did you know?"_

 _Henry squeezed her shoulder, and pulled into a one armed hug, "no I didn't know that I wasn't your father, but I am so happy that I didn't."_

 _Regina furrowed her brow, and asked, "why?"_

 _"Because if there was any doubt of paternity, my father would not have allowed me to stay with your mother, and I would have missed the chance to be your father. No matter what runs in your veins, I will always see you as my daughter, and I couldn't be happier that you now have two loving parents, even if one of them couldn't be me."_

 _Guilt passed over Regina's face. Since the dark curse had been cast, she had often thought about the moment that she had taken her father's heart, and just as often she had wondered whether it had been worth the sacrifice. Especially when her father's namesake had begun to pull away from her, she couldn't help but think that she had taken her father's life for nothing._

 _However, when she did get her happiness with the saviour, the guilt intensified. With every perfect moment she spent with her girlfriend and their son, how she came to be there weighed heavily upon her, and she felt even guiltier when she tried to push it aside._

 _"Does it not feel at all pointless?" she asked after a stretch of silence, "my happiness never lasts, so your sacrifice was for nothing."_

 _Henry shook his head, and replied, "I have watched you for the past three decades, and as much as the misery was difficult to watch, every time you so much as half smiled it felt worth it. No matter what it took to get there, you cannot deny that Storybrooke is your happy ending, and it's where you and Tamsin belong. So no, it doesn't feel pointless; I would do it a thousand more times if I knew that it would give you even the slightest hope of being happy."_

 _Regina looked down at the dark floor as she thought his words through, and instantly turned around to fully hug him, "thank you for everything, daddy," she whispered with tears threatening to fall._

 _"Anytime, my little princess," he whispered in return._

 _Regina smiled sadly at his words, and couldn't help but think about her 'little prince', "what am I supposed to do now?"_

 _"As hard as it may be, you watch and wait."_

* * *

-Two weeks later-

"Prove to me that your magic is unhelpful," Cora called across the clearing.

Invisible to the other two, Regina tried not to laugh at the saviour's expression caught between fear and confusion.

Since everyone had been brought to Storybrooke, she had been allowed to see anything she wanted, and she decided that seeing her mother give her girlfriend a magic lesson would be a welcome break from all of the longing she felt every other time of the day. Since she had entered this purgatory like state, she had either chose to watch Emma, Henry or Tamsin, and so far not being able to comfort them had been agonising. Even with Henry's memory loss, he seemed to be drawn to her, and she wished that her ghostly form had some substance so that she could at least talk to him.

The three headed beast appeared and began snapping at the saviour, and Regina had to try and not roll her eyes, because of course her mother was already aware of Greek mythology without spending much time in this world.

"All you need is a sword, remember?" Cora called, and the saviour took the bait, dodging to one side and slicing of the hydra's three heads.

"Idiot," Regina whispered fondly, as the foolish triumphant look overtook her girlfriend's face.

"Told you," she called.

As Regina knew would happen, the beast's body began to writhe as it began to double its number of deadly heads, and just as each stump became two heads, the sword disappeared from the blonde's hand.

"A hydra, are you kidding me?" Emma called.

"Who doesn't love classicalism?" Cora retorted.

"People who have their swords stolen."

"Bring it back then, just clear your mind and command the object back into your hand."

The blonde jumped away from the six snapping jaws and began to back away from it, "you expect me to clear my mind?"

"I expect you to be able to use your magic in any situation; you have no idea what you could face."

Emma's back hit a tree and she let out breath of shock.

Regina felt slight panic, she couldn't help but wonder just how far her mother would take this. Though she would hope that the woman knew she would never be able to come back from killing her daughter's true love.

"Cora, I can't do this, just get rid of it," she called desperately.

"Use your magic or die," the older woman replied firmly.

The hydra raised its clawed hand, trapping the saviour against the tree, and all six of its heads roared, savouring in taunting their prey.

Regina watched as Emma desperately tried to bring her magic forward, completely ignoring everything that she had ever been taught in her other lessons.

The mayor rolled her eyes again, and focused on what she wanted her girlfriend to think about. Though she had never put much faith in the accounts of the supernatural, she could no longer deny the existence of such things, and so she thought she might as well try the projection method she had once read about in a necromancer's magical tome she had read out of boredom.

"You have to allow the magic to flow through your body, allow it to become just another part of you and then you should naturally be able to bring it forth to cast a spell."

Now that the blonde finally listened to the lesson that her girlfriend had so desperately tried to teach all that time ago, it didn't take long for the hydra to lay dead on the ground with the smell of burning hydra flesh filling the clearing.

* * *

-The next day-

Regina's ghostly form stood behind the blonde who held their daughter closely to her chest. The brunette couldn't help but want to take a picture of the image that she had often imagined in the Enchanted Forest.

With her daughter's other mother now in front of her, the resemblance between the two blonde's was undeniable, and it only made Regina long even more to actually be with them, rather than watching as her girlfriend visited her comatose body every day.

Tamsin's familiar burp made Regina's smile widen, she couldn't believe just how easily Emma had been able to take care of their baby, but then she knew that she had gotten all of the information from her fake memories of taking care of Henry, so it did make the moment somewhat bitter sweet.

"You're missing this, Regina," the blonde said sadly as her eyes roamed over the sleeping woman before her, who she longed for to awake any moment.

Regina sighed at the words, and though she knew that the blonde couldn't hear her, she placed her ghostly hand on the taller woman's shoulder, and replied, "I haven't missed a moment."

 **A/N I hope you guys enjoyed XD**

 **Reviews will be much appreciated**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten

 _"I have a sister?!" Regina shouted._

 _Cora held up her hands and replied, "Dear calm down, stress is not good for the baby."_

 _Regina looked down at her growing bump and for a moment she softened slightly, before she remembered just exactly what had happened._

 _"You expect me to calm down after I get attacked by a flying monkey and then find out that the Wicked Witch who had been terrorising us for months is my sister?!" she asked incredulously, "did you think that I would never find out that I wasn't your first child?"_

 _Cora sighed and fell into one of the benches that surrounded her daughter's apple tree before replying, "Honestly, I wasn't really in my right mind at the time. My only thought was that I wanted my child to be royalty, and she could never have gotten that."_

 _"So you just threw her away?"_

 _Cora was about to protest, but instead swallowed hard and nodded, "I suppose you could see it that way."_

 _Regina looked at her mother for a second, and saw an expression that was rather new for her: regret._

 _"Do you wish that you hadn't given her away?" the former Evil Queen asked as she fell into the seat next to her mother._

 _"That is difficult to answer," Cora sighed, "I know if I hadn't, I would have lived a much different life, which couldn't have involved you."_

 _Regina nodded in understanding, she often thought about regretting the curse on people that she now considered her friends and family, but she knew that if she hadn't, Henry wouldn't have existed, she would have been thirty years older than Emma and her feud with Snow and Charming probably never would have ended._

 _"I just keep thinking about the birthmark that she had on her wrist, it's the only thing that I truly know about her…"_

 _Regina tilted her head, she couldn't help but think that it was strange to think of her mother as sentimental, but she still asked, "Birth mark?"_

 _"It was less a birth mark, and more a cruel prediction of my future," Cora laughed bitterly, and then after Regina looked at her questioningly, she clarified, "it was a small heart shape."_

 _Regina nodded and replied, "that is rather unsubtle."_

 _Cora sighed and replied, "I suppose I just don't know what to think about the whole situation."_

 _"Are emotions really that confusing to you, mother?" Regina smirked, which caused the older woman to roll her eyes with a playful grin upon her face._

 _"I suppose it will take longer to adjust and understand them," she allowed._

 _"Good luck with that," Regina laughed, "I think I may still be attempting the same."_

* * *

"So do you have any idea when you are due?" Zelena asked with a kind smile.

Snow laughed and shook her head, "I honestly would not be able to tell you how long I have been pregnant for."

"Have you not gone for an ultrasound?"

"There has been a lot going on," Snow replied with a sigh, an ultrasound was something that she had been thinking about since she had woken up, but there just wasn't time. First she had to deal with finding out that she now had a new grandchild, then there was Regina and doing everything she could to help Emma with what was going on.

"Well I would roughly guess about eight months." Snow's eyes widened and the other woman laughed at just how visibly afraid she looked, "not a fan of child birth?"

Snow bit her lip, before a small smirk spread across her face, "I'm more of a fan of what comes after…" she sighed realising that she hadn't actually experienced that with her now adult child, and she longed to be able have the same expression that Emma had whenever she held Tamsin in her arms.

"Most people are," Zelena replied with a smile, "so what exactly do you want from me? Any particular questions?"

"Well, last time I gave birth there wasn't any technology or medications, so I really just wanted to know more about that."

Zelena nodded, and was about to make a reply before the door opened revealing a very familiar woman and she desperately tried not to clench.

"Cora?" Snow said, "I thought you were coming back later."

The former Queen of Hearts nodded and replied, "Tamsin was getting fussy, so I offered to bring her home for a nap, and Emma is helping Charming to wade through all of the sheriff department files for anything that could help."

Snow nodded and looked back down at the leaflets that Zelena had given her, in that moment she didn't see the 'midwife' shoot the other woman a venomous look.

Neither did Cora, apparently, as she made her way past the talking pair to go and set her granddaughter down for her promised nap.

"Strange, I had heard quite disturbing stories about the Queen of Hearts," Zelena said almost to herself.

Snow looked up with a furrowed brow and said, "Are you from Wonderland?"

"Oh no, dear, though it is quite the interesting place to learn more about, wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess so, I've never thought about it," the princess frowned. "Anyway, Cora is different now."

Zelena clenched her jaw, and Snow raised her eyebrow at her, "are you okay, Zelena?"

"I'm fine," she ground out, she couldn't help but think how unfair it was that Cora would change for Regina, and yet all she got from her mother was the blanket and basket that the woman had sent her to another realm in.

"Are you sure?"

Zelena nodded and brought her hand up to wipe some hair out of her face, not noticing at the same moment, the woman who she had fixated on for much of her life, coming down the stairs.

Cora's eyes were instantly drawn to the woman's wrist, and for a moment they widened at the familiar sight from all those decades ago.

The small heart shaped patch of skin that she had often thought about since she had her heart returned. For a moment she thought about saying something, until she realised that she knew her first born to be a villain, and simply turned to make her way back up the stairs before either of the other two could notice her.

Taking a deep breath, she stood in front of Tamsin's cot and took a moment to simply think about the red headed woman's appearance, before she finally brought out her phone and clicked on the saviour's name.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed XD Reviews would be much appreciated**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

"Cora calm down," Emma laughed through the phone, "what are you talking about?"

Cora took a deep breath and repeated what she had basically said in one word a moment before, "your mother has hired…the Wicked Witch as her midwife."

Though she couldn't see the blonde, she could almost tell that the woman was pinching the bridge of her nose in much the same way as she was sure her daughter would have after learning of Snow White's idiocy.

"And you know this how?" Emma replied after a moment of silence.

"She has a birth mark," she said simply, allowing the implications to hang in the air.

"And what does she want?"

"I don't know," Cora sighed, "she's just down the stairs talking about pregnancy."

"So what do you want me to do?"

Cora sighed deeply and realised that she had made this phone call in haste, "nothing, I will stay with Tamsin and protect your mother."

"Thank you," Emma replied, though she clearly seemed to be thinking everything through, finally adding, "how are we supposed to figure this out?"

"Is that not your family's speciality?"

"Fine, just let me know if you need back up, I can literally be there in a second."

Cora agreed and hung up the phone, turning to the crib where Tamsin was sleeping peacefully, she began to formulate a plan to protect her.

* * *

 _"Robin of Locksley at your service," the blonde man bowed._

 _Regina took a deep breath and looked down at his outstretched hand, and then moving her eyes up, she fixated on the lion tattoo._

 _"A thief?" she finally asked._

 _"I suppose a queen would see me that way," he laughed, "but perhaps the person who I just saved from a deadly trap could stand to see me in a more polite manner."_

 _"I wasn't aware that there was more than one definition of the word, just because a person has good intentions for what they steal, it doesn't make the item theirs to giveaway."_

 _Robin raised his eyebrow at the woman's reaction and he asked, "Have I struck a chord your majesty?"_

 _Regina sighed and turned away from the man who had decided that she shouldn't go alone into her own castle, causing her to be followed by almost the entirety of Storybrooke's population, and seemed to think that now was a good time to introduce himself._

 _If she was to believe Tinkerbell, then this was the man that would have made her happy. According to the fairy, if she had just gone into the tavern, every evil deed that she had a hand in would have been avoided. She could have had her happy ending, and it wouldn't have been at the expense of a whole realm's happiness. But looking at this man now, all she could do was find him incredibly irritating._

 _On the surface, she could see why he would have been her soulmate when she was eighteen. He was exactly the type of man that she imagined she would end up with, but when she met Daniel she had cast that fantasy aside._

 _But now she was beginning to see the similarities between him and Emma and she guessed that the pixie dust wouldn't have been able to find someone who hadn't been born at the time and therefore it had gone for someone who was close enough. Despite this, however, she couldn't help but think that the fact that she and Emma never seemed to be allowed to settle down for long could be a sign from the universe that she wasn't the person that she was destined to end up with and she had to say that she didn't like the thought of ending up with Robin, mostly just because he wasn't Emma._

 _"I am not in the best of moods, thief, I would prefer to just go home and rest, but your interference isn't appreciated."_

 _Reaching forward, she made to grab the door. After the magical trap that she had almost walked over, she was sure that there couldn't possibly be anything else that the universe could throw at her in that moment. That was until an arrow went flying across her face and embedded itself in the door, which began to viscously disintegrate._

 _"That arrow almost took off my head!" she shouted._

 _"That trap almost took off your arm. Where I come from, a simple 'thank you' would suffice."_

 _"Where you come from, people bathe in the river and use pine cones for money," Regina sneered._

 _"Regina," Snow hissed._

 _Robin held up his hand with a small smirk, "it's quite alright, I would say she is entitled to her outburst."_

 _Snow furrowed her brow and inspected Regina's warning expression, "why?"_

 _Robin laughed at the queen's expression, "isn't it obvious?"_

 _The princess was clearly trying to come up with the answer on her own, and finally looked at Robin expectantly, however, the thief shook his head, "it's not my secret to tell."_

 _Regina felt all eyes turn onto her, and instead of looking back at any of them, she stared Robin down, "how did you figure it out?"_

 _"There are certain signs that should be hard to miss," Robin laughed._

 _Regina closed her eyes in frustration as she realised that the man must have stumbled upon her bout of morning sickness, but had clearly been too polite to question it until now._

 _"What is it, Regina?" Snow finally prompted._

 _"Later, Snow," she replied and turned on her heels, ready to go and reclaim her castle._

* * *

The mug of tea slipped out of Zelena's hand, and she looked up contemptuously at her mother as Snow looked on in total confusion.

"What was that?!"

Cora looked at the other woman innocently and replied, "you asked for a cup of tea and I made one for you, I'm afraid I am not seeing the issue, dear."

Zelena rolled her tongue her mouth for a moment, deciding that whatever she had just drank, was definitely not 100% tea, but she was having difficulty identifying just exactly what her mother could have added to it.

"I suppose you didn't ask for the truth serum," Cora finally relented.

Snow's shot up to look at the other woman questioningly and she simply mouthed 'later'.

Zelena let out a breath of frustration as Cora finally took a seat opposite her.

"Are you the Wicked Witch of the West?" Cora asked.

"Yes," Zelena replied after a short struggle.

Snow's mouth fell open, but each other woman just proceeded to ignore her, Cora continued with, "what is your plan?"

"I…want Regina's life," she said.

Cora looked dumbstruck at the news, and had to stop herself from telling the woman that she most certainly wouldn't have wanted that, instead settling on asking, "how?"

"By stopping you from ever giving me up."

"You want to go back in time?" Snow asked.

Cora resisted the urge to scowl at the woman who seemed intent upon pointing out the obvious and turned back to the other woman who was clearly fighting to keep her mouth shut.

"How do you plan to break a rule of magic?"

"I-I…" Zelena began and was then engulfed in green smoke as she tried desperately to escape, as if she her shock had addled her ability to remember that she could teleport.

"What the hell?!" Snow finally exclaimed.

"It appears that we've found my daughter," Cora sighed.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, reviews would be much appreciated XD**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

"Do you think Regina is going to be okay?" Henry asked as he swept the floor, he grimaced slightly as he said 'Regina', the word felt wrong in his mouth but he didn't know what else he should be calling her.

Mr Gold looked from the counter with a sad smile and replied, "the thing about this town is that things usually work out how you want them to. We just usually have to wade through some pain to get to that…happy ending."

Henry furrowed his brow for a moment and looked at the floor, "sounds like a fairy-tale."

Gold laughed and replied, "very similar."

Something began to nag at his mind, almost as if there was a memory trying to get through to his consciousness. This had been happening a lot since he had come to this town, when he saw buildings he felt like he should know something about them, but he always came up blank with only the nagging feeling to remind him of his Déjà vu.

"Have I been here before?" he finally asked. When he saw that the older man seemingly preparing to lie, he quickly added, "everything about Storybrooke is familiar, the places, the people, Regina…"

Gold swallowed hard and replied, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you, Henry."

"I'm pretty open minded."

The pawn store owner nodded and considered whether this was wise, if the boy believed, it would certainly make things easier, but if he didn't, it would just be another thing that the saviour had to deal with.

Finally, he decided that if anyone would believe the insane tale that was the story of this town, it would be the Truest Believer, assuming that he still held that title.

"Storybrooke is…a cursed town."

Henry bit his lip, once again he felt memories trying to come forward. He was sure that he should be fighting against them, any normal teenager would have already denied Mr Gold's words, but he just felt that he wasn't lying and nodded for him to continue.

"We were cursed here from the Enchanted Forest…"

"So you are fairy-tale characters?" he asked in almost trance.

"You believe me?" Gold returned in an almost hopeful voice.

"I…" Henry trailed off, he didn't completely reject what he was being told, but at the same time, a part of him was almost screaming that this was insane and that he wanted to go back to Boston. "I wish there was some kind of proof."

Gold sighed and allowed his eye line to drop below the counter, there was a moment of silence as he tried to decide what to do next, but his thoughts were quickly halted when he saw something that he was sure hadn't been there when he did inventory an hour ago. Reaching down, he placed the story book on the counter.

Henry stared at it for a moment, and then reached forward to run his hand over the cover, but stopped just shy of the leather, hovering his hand just above it, "what is this?"

Gold offered him no answer and allowed him to just decide to pick it up.

It only took a split second for the boy to be drawn to his story book and he brought it up. Instantly, flashes of memories began to join the fake ones that had been placed in his mind. Every happy childhood memory now seemed to have a double, one with Emma and one with Regina, but he was very aware of which ones were real.

Dropping the book, he looked up at the man who had taken him on as his apprentice and choked out, "grandpa?"

* * *

Emma paced the apartment, every so often turning to look at her daughter sleeping happily in David's arms.

"You hired the Wicked Witch as your nanny?" she finally asked with an exasperated sigh.

"How was I supposed to know who she was?" Snow asked defensively.

"Maybe you should have considered why no one had ever seen her before," Cora suggested.

The princess rolled her eyes and replied, "there are a lot of new people in town who didn't come with the first curse, there was no way that I could have known that she wasn't who she claimed to be."

"This isn't important," David announced, "we need to find out what she's planning."

Emma sighed and fell onto the couch to place her head in her hands, she didn't think that things could get this complicated. When she got her memories back, she just wanted to come home and be with her girlfriend. Of course, that image now included both of their children instead of just Henry. But she supposed that she shouldn't be that surprised that Regina still had more crazy family members, as if Cora and Gold hadn't been enough.

"How do you suggest that we find that out?" she sighed in resignation.

David shot his daughter a sympathetic look but offered no helpful suggestions.

The door suddenly opened to interrupt the oppressive silence and Henry walked in with his grandfather not far behind him.

Emma swallowed hard and tried to school her features so that he wouldn't question what was wrong, she didn't think that she could handle coming up with more lies.

Without a word, Henry took a seat next to her and asked in a soft voice, "what really happened to mom?"

The blonde's mouth fell open and she looked over at Gold who shrugged, "he wasn't that hard to convince," he chuckled.

Emma smiled sadly, and looked back to Henry, "we don't know."

The brunette boy looked down with a frown, before his eyes trained on the girl sleeping happily in his grandfather's arms.

"Is she really…"

"Yeah, Tamsin is your sister," David replied, noticing that it was probably too painful for the other blonde to answer.

Henry stood from the couch and tentatively walked over to the child.

He instantly saw the resemblance she held to his two mothers, and for a moment he felt burning jealousy that Regina now had a biological child, but it was quickly squashed, he knew that it wouldn't change how much she loved him.

Turning around, he said, "she needs to wake up."

"I couldn't agree more, kid, but we have no idea what to do," Emma sighed.

Henry took a calming breath and replied, "I may have an idea."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I would love to hear what you thought of the chapter XD**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

"How did you find this?" Emma asked.

"Grampa has a lot of books, I thought they were fiction so I just read a few," Henry said rather defensively.

Emma looked up from the counter that Henry had placed the spell book on and shot Gold a warning look, "you left him alone with magical items?"

Gold looked over at Cora who offered no reaction, he was just glad that the other two Charmings had decided to stay home and look after Tamsin, he wasn't in the mood to deal with three withering looks, though, he knew that the look from his own daughter would have been the only one that would have made him feel even slightly guilty.

"I didn't leave anything dangerous, it's just a book," he pointed out.

Emma rolled her eyes and looked back down at the spell, "you could have mentioned that there was a spell to look into someone's memories," she scowled.

"In my defence, I am not very well versed in light magic, Miss Swan," he shot back.

Emma rolled her eyes and continued to read the spell, biting her lip in concentration, she considered whether she would be able to perform something so complicated.

"Well neither am I," she sighed.

Cora came over to the counter and peered down at the text, "you just need to memorise the spell," she assured, "and not get a single word wrong."

The blonde paled and asked, "why?"

"It's very similar to some darker spells that I have come across in the past, there is a very real possibility of making things one hundred times worse."

"You can do it then."

Cora smiled sadly and shook her head, "I am afraid that I am just as adept at light magic as Rumple."

"You can do it ma," Henry said quite excitedly, "you can find out what happened and then fix it."

Emma nodded and picked up the book, "I guess I have some studying to do."

* * *

 _Regina stared at the child sleeping happily in the crib and sighed deeply._

 _Her sister had warned her what was about to happen and despite her best efforts, she was powerless to stop her. It soon became clear that it took light magic to so much as harm the witch, something that their little band of heroes were ironically lacking._

 _A crashing could be heard in the background as the guards fought against the flying monkeys, but they were no match against the enemy's mistress, who crashed straight through the door to the nursery._

 _Tamsin began to wail wildly as the sound woke her up, and Regina felt anger consume her. She knew that she should be mad about many other things, like missing her girlfriend and her son, but for some reason, Tamsin's sleep being interrupted was the last straw._

 _"You shouldn't have done that," she growled as she stood from her position next to the crib._

 _Zelena smirked and walked towards her younger sister, "and what are you going to do about it, Gina?" she asked mockingly, "you are powerless against me."_

 _Regina clenched her fists, and then she seemed to suddenly realise that the older woman was right, and allowed the tension to slightly fall away, though her anger still remained._

 _"If you harm my child, it will be the last thing you ever do," she replied in a threatening, eerily Evil Queen-like growl._

 _Zelena, however, was completely unaffected by the empty threat, she was completely sure that there was nothing the younger woman could do to stop her plan._

 _"Trust me, when I carry out my plan, you will no longer be able to protect your child."_

 _Regina furrowed her brow in confusion, which caused Zelena to laugh manically._

 _"You won't be able to protect little Thomasina if neither of you are ever born, I simply need to go back in time and ensure that mother keeps me. She will never meet your father, and I can give her everything she wanted from a daughter."_

 _Regina ignored the second part of Zelena's little speech and instead laughed, "you plan to go back in time? How could you ever hope to break the laws of magic?"_

 _With a wave of her hand, a broken sword appeared in her hand, "the essence of dear Charming's courage, all I need is a symbol of love and innocence, I believe your heart and child will suffice."_

 _Regina looked at the sword and tried not to roll her eyes, she never understood why Charming felt the need to 'quest' alone, she distinctly remembered him coming running back to the castle in a frenzy complaining about being attacked by Zelena, at least she now knew why it had happened._

 _"You will never get to Tamsin," she replied._

 _"Once I have your heart, you won't have much of a choice, dear little sister," Zelena glowered._

 _Regina looked over at the crib that contained the wailing child, she knew that Tamsin was the most important thing in this moment. There was nothing she could do to stop Zelena from carrying out her plan, expect…_

 _Frantic footsteps could be heard in the hallway, and Regina instantly decided that this was the only plan that could protect her child, she just hoped that her parents and the two idiots could find a way for Tamsin to have at least one mother._

 _With a deep breath she said, "you won't have access to what you need," before Zelena could question, Regina sank her hand into her own chest, and with a ragged breath ripped out her own heart._

 _The older woman stared at the blackened beating organ for a moment, completely mesmerised._

 _In that moment, she failed to realise what was about to happen, until Regina let out a grunt of pain, "No!" the witch shouted as the ingredient she needed turned to dust._

 _Regina collapsed to the floor, and Zelena stood completely shocked, she couldn't believe that the Evil Queen would do that for her child. Deciding that she could easily find another symbol of love, she walked over to the crib and reached down to pick up the child. However, as her hands came close to the innocent girl, she was instantly thrown back by a force field._

 _After hitting the wall, she look over at the girl who was still crying uncontrollably, "impossible," she whispered._

 _At the same moment, Rumple and Cora ran through the door and they each took a moment to stare at their unmoving daughter._

 _Cora turned to look at her other child, but Zelena quickly disappeared in a cloud of green smoke._

 _The woman blinked a few times, but then quickly followed Rumple's lead and fell down next to Regina, "what happened?" she choked out._

 _Rumple looked over at the pile of dust on the floor, and Cora followed his line of sight, instantly recognising what it was, "no…" she whispered._

 _Rumple swallowed hard and nodded to tell her he was thinking the same thing, whispering a few spells a glow surrounded his daughter's body, preserving her in the same way that Daniel had been._

 _"We need to get back to Emma," he replied._

* * *

"Did it work?" Cora asked, once the faraway look had left Emma's eyes.

The saviour blinked out of the images she had just worked. In this moment, she began to wish that the spell hadn't worked, but still nodded.

"It did," she replied in a hoarse voice.

"And…" Henry prompted.

"She has no heart."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I should probably admit that the part where she went flying back was inspired by Harry Potter haha**

 **Anyway, I would love to hear what you thought of the chapter XD**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

Whale inspected Regina while her family, excluding Snow, Charming and Tamsin, waited with bated breath behind him.

Turning around he explained, "the machines are somehow keeping her alive."

"How is that possible?" Gold asked with a furrowed brow, as he looked at the heart monitor which seemed convinced that there was a beat to follow.

The doctor shrugged his shoulders and he replied, "I wish I knew." It more than bothered him that it was clearly possible to keep the dead alive in this world, but this was just the ultimate insult to his work. "Did she do anything particular when she removed her heart?" he asked.

Emma shook her head, "it looked completely normal, except…"

Everyone gave her an expectant look and she continued, "when Zelena tried to get to Tamsin after Regina…after she…" letting out a huff in frustration, she got to her point, "when she tried to get to Tamsin, she went flying backwards almost as if something was preventing her from being touched."

"True love," Henry supplied, he knew exactly what Regina's maternal love felt like and he had no doubt that it was strong enough to stop any threat. "She gave up her heart to protect Tamsin and created a kind of barrier, right?"

Rumple and Cora nodded in agreement, "none of this helps with waking her up," Cora finally said after a moment of silence.

Whale looked around at each face and was surprised to see a spark of hope on each of them, especially the two eldest, he was sure that the adults would at least understand the truth behind what had happened.

"She has no heart," he said slowly.

Cora shot the doctor a warning look and he just rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, he could clearly see that they had no intention of listening to him.

"What do we do?" Emma asked in a hollow voice, though she desperately didn't want it to be true, she couldn't help but agree with Whale. She was sure that Regina had taught her the basic rules of magic, having no heart generally meant death, the medicine of this land was probably just giving her the appearance of being alive.

Everyone was silent and Emma fell into the plastic chair, bringing her hand around her girlfriend's unmoving one.

Henry sat next to her and offered a supportive and yet strained smile, it was clear that he was just as upset as his blonde mother.

No one in the room had any idea what they could possibly do to remedy the situation, but they each refused to admit that Regina could actually be dead.

* * *

 _Cora held her granddaughter closer to her body and watched as Rumple fanatically flicked through one of his books._

 _A heavily pregnant Snow White looked sadly down at the seemingly comatose woman carefully laid on a cot. Her husband placed a hand on her shoulder and offered her a sad smile, he knew she was probably thinking the same thing as he was, what would they tell Emma?_

 _Rumple violently threw the book on the floor and said, "there is no way to cross realms."_

 _"Even if we did, what would Emma be able to do that we couldn't?" Cora sighed._

 _Snow looked up at her fellow grandmother and saw clear pain behind her eyes. She knew that the woman was refusing to believe that her child was truly dead. She felt sympathy for the woman since she was having a hard enough time without Emma, but at least she knew that she was alive._

 _"True love can always do something," she tried, which only caused the older woman to roll her eyes._

 _"But it can't do everything," Cora retorted, allowing the implications to hang in the air._

 _Snow was about to argue her point, but was interrupted by Rumple, "the Dark Curse," he said as he had a stroke of inspiration._

 _"What?" Snow sighed._

 _"If we cast it again, it Storybrooke will exist again and we can send someone to go and get Emma."_

 _"You want to cast the Dark Curse?" Snow asked, "why couldn't we have done this earlier?"_

 _"Because it involves the heart of the one you love most," Rumple sighed._

 _Cora looked at him critically, "and how do you plan for us to be able to cast it? At the moment, the one we love most has no heart."_

 _Rumple nodded in agreement and said, "that is why we cannot cast it," he then turned to the Charmings who exchanged a worried look._

 _"No," Snow said instantly._

 _David brought his arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to him, "it's the only way that Emma will ever meet her daughter and little brother or sister."_

 _Snow's eyes widened as she realised just who he was suggesting should die, and she began to shake her head vigorously, "Emma and our child need you," she argued._

 _"You have to do this Snow," he said sadly, "everything will be fine."_

* * *

"She truly is beautiful," Henry Sr. commented as he came up behind his daughter earnestly looking at her child sleeping in the crib.

"I know," the spirit sighed as she tried to touch Tamsin's cheek only to feel nothing under her hand. Blinking away the urge to cry, not that she was sure a ghost could cry, she instead continued to inspect her daughter who somehow looked more like Emma with every passing day.

"They will find a way," he assured.

"Emma only just found out what happened, I don't want her to become as obsessed as I was with Daniel."

"If anyone could find a way, it would be the Charmings," he chuckled.

Regina nodded half-heartedly and continued to watch her child sleep, she just wanted to be able to hold Tamsin, hug Henry, kiss Emma and slap Zelena, but she couldn't do any of that, no one even knew that she was present.

The silence was broken when Charming came running up the stairs, Regina watched as he ran to the crib and took a moment to look at Tamsin.

He quickly sighed and picked her up, "Sorry," he whispered as she began to cry from being woken up, "but your grandmother is in labour."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, reviews would be much appreciated :)**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

"It's going to be okay, Snow," Charming assured as they were rushed down the hospital hallway. His only reply came in the form of a scream of pain as another contraction racked her body.

The sound of her grandmother in pain seemed to only increase Tamsin's distress as the child, who had been so rudely awoken, wailed almost as loud as Snow.

"What's going on?" Emma asked as she stepped out of Regina's room, beckoned by the sudden increase in sound.

Without hesitation, David handed Tamsin to his daughter which instantly caused the child to marginally calm down, and he explained, "you mother is in labour."

The blonde nodded and watched as a couple of nurses pushed the stretcher into a labour room down the hall and began whispering shushing sounds to calm down Tamsin, which didn't take long to start taking effect.

David took a moment to inspect his daughter closely holding her own daughter, and for an instant he felt like crying. With everything going on, he hadn't quite processed that he was going to have another child, one who would be younger than both of his grandchildren. He felt utterly unprepared for it all.

Emma looked up from Tamsin and instantly recognised the look on his face, she was sure that it was the expression she would have been wearing had she been present at Tamsin's birth, but she also knew that despite the fear, she would now give anything to have actually been there.

"It's okay…dad," she assured.

David took a deep breath and nodded, he leaned forward and hugged her being careful not to disturb Tamsin, who had finally calmed down.

The female blonde accepted the hug and said, "go, I'll be right there."

With that, the saviour turned on her heels and re-entered the hospital room, to find Henry standing next to the door, "is grandma okay?"

Emma smiled fondly at the boy and nodded, "she'll be fine."

The brunette nodded in return and went back over to the plastic chair that he had been occupying since he had arrived in the room.

"Is something wrong, Miss Swan?" Cora asked with a tilted head, "I mean other than the obvious."

"I was thinking about what I saw…" Emma trailed off and considered whether her theory had any merit, but at the same time, even if there was the slightest chance that the Wicked Witch would be going after her new sibling, she wanted to be there to protect him or her.

"If Tamsin is still protected by the love magic that I saw in Regina's memory, then she'll have to find another symbol of innocence…"

"You think she's going to come after your sibling?" Gold asked with a furrowed brow as he thought this through. They had been focused on Regina and had honestly kind of forgotten to think about what Zelena was planning.

Emma nodded, and said, "as soon as Snow gives birth, that witch is probably going to attack."

"Well then, let's go and protect her," Cora replied and was already half way to the door.

The blonde turned to Henry who nodded in encouragement, "I'll look after Tamsin, we'll be fine here."

* * *

 _"Are you sure that this will work?" Snow asked for the tenth time as she watched Cora and Rumple continue to prepare the Dark Curse._

 _Every so often, she spared glances at her husband, she was sure that he should have been more worried than he appeared to be. He didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by the fact that his heart was about to be sacrificed, but he was rather focused on the fact that his wife and granddaughter would be getting back to Emma._

 _"Yes, Snow, this will definitely work," Cora replied without looking over her shoulder at the pregnant woman._

 _Snow looked over at the cot where the unmoving Regina lay, and she couldn't help imagining Charming in the same position. When they got back, Emma would have lost her father and the woman she loved, gaining a daughter who she would have to raise alone. She had to wonder whether it would truly be any better than the life of ignorance that the saviour was living now. But at the same time, she knew that Tamsin growing up as an orphan would be a prospect that would hurt Emma more than the period of grief that she would have to live with._

 _Charming brought his arm around the woman and pulled her into his side, pressing a kiss lightly to her temple, "we need to give Tamsin her best chance."_

 _"And what about our child?" Snow sniffled._

 _"He will have you."_

 _"How is it fair that each child only gets one parent?" the woman argued._

 _"It may not be the way we wanted things to end up, but it is the best option in this terrible situation," he whispered gently, though it didn't do much to reassure her._

 _"It's time," Cora announced._

 _Charming brought his wife into a full frontal hug and pulled back to place a kiss on her lips, "I love you, please make sure that Tamsin finds Emma."_

 _The brunette found that she was unable to form words as her True Love began his goodbye speech and instead she just nodded, allowing tears to run down her cheeks._

 _"Snow," the former Queen of Hearts urged, and Snow sniffled again and stepped away from her husband. After the princess was out of the way, the woman gave the prince a meaningful look, telling him that she appreciated what he was doing for their shared grandchild, and then she sank her hand into his chest._

 _In the gentlest way that she have ever done so, Cora brought the glowing heart out of his chest and took a moment to admire its purity._

 _Eventually, she turned and handed the heart to his wife._

 _Snow took her time to share a silent conversation with Charming, and when she was assured that he already knew everything that she wanted to tell him, she brought the heart over the little dish that Cora had placed the rest of the ingredients in and after much resistance from her hand, the heart turned to dust and the blonde prince fell to the ground._

 _Snow fell to her knees next to him and cradled his head in her hands, she placed her hand on his chest and the smoke bellowing behind her didn't even register when she felt the distinct lack of heart beat._

 _"How do I live without him?" she breathed._

 _Neither Cora nor Gold offered any reply and she continue to speak to herself, "how do I live without my other half?"_

 _The princess blinked a few times as the statement gave her an idea, she had no idea if it was even an option, but the small chance at hope was enough for her in that moment._

 _Looking up at Cora with tears stained upon her cheeks, she said in a hoarse voice, "we could share a heart."_

* * *

Henry looked over the edge of the crib that Cora had conjured for Tamsin and he instantly saw how the child was a mix of his two mothers.

She was adorable, but also painfully innocent.

The little girl slept as if everything wasn't going wrong, as if their mother wasn't technically dead, not that anyone had actually spoken those words yet.

With a sad smile, he pushed off the edge of the crib and walked back over to his mother, plopping down onto the chair, and he brought both of his hands over hers.

"I really missed you," he sighed, "I know it makes no sense since I actually had no idea who you was, but I just felt like something was missing. Everything seemed just a little bit off, at least I know why I didn't like Walsh," he laughed half-heartedly.

Henry continued to watch as the machine forced his mother's chest to raise and fall, and tears finally began to roll down his cheeks. Though he would always be the first person to believe that there was another way, that things would always work themselves out, in this moment he felt hopeless.

Regina was objectively dead, and the thought tore him apart, leaving him unable to think of a possible way to save her.

"I should have told you that I love you more than I did," he admitted, "but I guess you know that I do love you, at least I hope you do. I don't know if ma would ever recover and Tamsin…well she doesn't know you yet, but she deserves to. My point is that you have to wake up."

When he was met with silence, he tried to blink away his tears and when he couldn't think of anything else to say, he leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead.

Instantly, a burst of light shot out from the point where his lips touched her skin, and he knew exactly what had happened.

The curse had been broken, but his mother still didn't wake up.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I would love to hear what you thought XD**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N- T/W for violence, though I personally think its really mild but I'm not sure haha Also sorry for any errors, they will be corrected once my beta is finished with her exams and has time to recover lol**

Chapter sixteen

"One more push," Whale shouted over the pregnant woman's screams.

"You're doing great," Charming assured, not even wincing as the brunette squeezed his hand tighter, though he would be sure to check for broken bones later.

With a final scream, Snow back against the bed, to be met with the wailing of her new-born a moment later.

The second time mother allowed tears to run down her face as she laughed in joy as Whale announced, "He's a boy!"

Snow was about to turn to David and then Emma, to show how happy she was, until a burst of line shot through the room, and in what could only be described as a two second mind grain, she felt all of her memories just return.

From her position leant against the wall, Emma looked at each person in the room as they all appeared to be registering some new information. She knew exactly what that light meant and she wanted to know exactly what they remembered and how it could help Regina, however, as soon as she was about to begin her questioning, a green smoke consumed one corner of the room.

"Congratulations," Zelena sneered, Whale was frozen in place with a green glow around him and she began to make her way towards him.

Emma looked to the former Queen of Hearts who seemed to be finally coming out of her memories, she expected her to do something way more powerful than she had learnt yet, but the woman didn't even raise her hands.

"She can only be defeated by light magic," she sighed.

The saviour rolled her eyes, though she was glad that they seemed to be remembering useful information.

Raising both of her hands, little orbs of pure light appeared and she aimed them straight at the witch, "stay away from my brother."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Zelena laughed, causing the blonde to hesitate, "if you care for your child, you would put your hands down."

"You can't hurt Tamsin," Emma replied instantly.

"I believe you have more than one child, saviour," Zelena laughed manically, and a moment later a brunette teenager appeared in front of her.

Henry's eyes darted around the room as he took in his surroundings.

Whale was frozen in place holding a new born, Charming was clutching the hilt of the sword that he had hung at his side but seemed aware that it wouldn't truly help. Gold and Cora had defensive stances but at the same time seemed aware that they would be completely unhelpful.

Emma was the only person who was taking any kind of offensive, but as her father's sword came flying out of his scabbard, despite his physical efforts to halt the magic, and lined up with his throat, Emma dropped her hand in defeat.

"It's truly a shame that you have been so ill-prepared for all of this, isn't it, saviour?" Zelena glowered, "my little sister could have given you better tutelage and you might have actually been able to protect your son. Then again, she did have to take rather drastic measures to protect my dear niece."

Emma swallowed hard against her anger, her fists shook violently, she seriously wanted to kill this witch, but she very much doubted that she would be able to do anything faster than the red head could flick her wrist and slit Henry's throat.

"What do you want?" the blonde asked through gritted teeth.

"It's simple, you must wear this," Zelena waved her hand and a black band appeared floating in the air in front of the saviour.

Emma instantly knew that it would render her incapable of performing magic, she also knew that she was the only person in Storybrooke who would currently be able to defeat the Wicked Witch and protect her brother. However, as a small drop of blood splashed upon the blade and Henry whimpered in pain, the blonde didn't hesitate in grabbing the band and slipping it onto her arm.

Zelena smiled broadly and walked over to Whale, going for the child in his arms.

"Don't touch him!" Charming shouted, but was instantly paused by a light shimmer of green.

"As charming as your persistence is, you should really face that I win," with that, the witch grabbed the new-born and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Charming and Whale were instantly set free, but neither of them felt any better for it.

The sword fell loudly to the floor and Henry ran into his mother's arms, eventually he pulled back and Emma looked between her clearly devastated parents.

She swallowed hard and began to say, "I'm sor…" only to be cut off by her mother.

"This isn't your fault Emma," Snow replied as tears ran down her face.

The blonde nodded solemnly and turned to the two magic experts behind her, "how do we get him back?"

"We need a light magic user, someone who uses dark magic cannot harm Zelena, they would also be unable to remove that band," Cora sighed.

The saviour allowed her head to fall into her hands in defeat, but Charming said, "we could use another opinion."

"I am not in the mood to listen to the fairies," Emma sighed.

Charming shook his head and he looked at Snow who nodded in agreement, he knew what he was about to suggest should terrify any parent, but he just knew that it would work.

"From Regina."

Emma blinked a few times, she was sure that the labour process must have sent her father insane, as much as she wanted Regina back, she thought that the priority right now would be her little brother's life.

"She was able to protect Tamsin, which must have been a form of light magic, she is clearly capable," Cora realised, her voice containing an odd edge of pride.

"Am I the only one who sees the major issue with this plan?" Emma asked, she didn't want to say the word 'coma' in the midst of this terrible situation, but she did feel like she had to remind them.

"She doesn't have a heart," Cora allowed, "but your parents made quite the astonishing discovery, True Love's are capable of sharing one heart."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I would love to hear what you thought XD**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

"Are you sure about this, ma?" Henry asked as Cora raised her hand to the saviour's chest.

After a short explanation, Emma had agreed to share her heart, but even to the Truest Believer, it seemed rather far-fetched.

He saw the same apprehension on his grandparent's faces, despite the fact that they had supposedly lived through the same experience. Then again, he imagined that the prospect of their daughter literally ripping her heart in half wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world, even if they knew it would work.

The blonde turned to looked at the boy who was standing next to Tamsin's crib, with Charming beside him and Snow in a wheelchair all looking worriedly at her. Strangely, their worry just made her want to do it even more. She wanted Tamsin to experience Regina's protective 'mother bear mode' as she liked to refer to it, she just knew that if Henry or his sister were ever in a situation like this, Regina would be beyond worried.

"I have to do it," she replied and her determination seemed to make her son relax marginally, though her parents still looked exceptionally tense at what they were about to see.

"I trust that I am not going to be thrown back this time," Cora said.

Emma smiled slightly and replied, "you have permission this time."

With that, the former Queen of Hearts sank her hand into the saviour's chest who bit her lip against the pain and nodded for Cora to continue.

As lightly as possible, the woman pulled the glowing organ out of the blonde's chest, but despite her best efforts, Emma still let out a slight squeak pain and began breathing deeply as she saw her own heart.

"I guess that wasn't the difficult part?" she sighed, not even bothering to look back at her parents faces, which undoubtedly now only held more concern than before.

"I'm afraid not," Cora half grinned, and looked over at her unmoving daughter. Charming had been given half of Snow's heart almost as soon as he had lost his. Regina had gone days, but she had magical charms and the modern medicine keeping her body alive, the major issue was potential brain damage, at this point all they could do was hope.

Bringing up her other hand to the heart, she was about to split it apart, but instead suggested, "perhaps you should sit down, this won't be pleasant."

Emma nodded and took the advice, falling into the plastic seat closet to the comatose woman. She continued to look at her face as a pain consumed her body, despite it though, she knew that the result would be worth it. She just imagined Regina defeating her sister, saving her little brother, being there for Tamsin and Henry, it would all most certainly be worth it.

The pain suddenly stopped and felt drowsy, she knew that she should probably be dead at this point, but she also knew that a lot of things had happened that went against common sense, besides it wasn't really herself that she was thinking about in this moment.

The saviour took heaving breaths as she tried to come to terms with the fact that her heart would forever be in half, but she didn't spend long doing this as Cora came to stand next to the chair, half of a glowing heart in each hand.

With the practiced ease of someone who had essentially done a heart transplant before, she thrust her hand into Emma's and Regina's chests at the same time and then took a step back to watch what happened.

Emma brought her hand to her own chest and felt her heart beat had returned, though it felt far less rapid than it probably should have been in this moment. She started to feel her eyes drift shut as a certain weakness began to spread throughout her body, and she was becoming more and more sure that it hadn't worked. Their plan had failed and now Tamsin and Henry would be orphans, her brother wouldn't live long enough to receive a name, and the Wicked Witch of the West would be free to wreak havoc on the timeline as she saw fit.

Cora looked in vain as nothing happened for several moments and she turned her attention to Dr Whale who had been silently leant against the wall.

He was looking intently at the heart monitor that had somehow been picking up a phantom heart beat for the past couple of days, she could tell by the furrow in his brow that there was something significant happening.

He walked over to it and began pressing buttons to reveal different settings and Cora growled in frustration as she saw the sheriff was seemingly about to pass out.

"What is it?!" she snapped.

The doctor looked up at her and replied, "her heartbeat is slightly spiking."

"Meaning?" Gold prompted from his position at the end of the bed.

He was about to answer until it became clear that he didn't need to as Regina's eyes began to flutter open.

The doctor checked a few other stats on the screens around the mayor and then reached forward and gently pulled the tube from her throat.

For a tense moment, everyone in the room waited to see if the respirator was still necessary, which was soon answered as Regina took a heaving breath and finally fully opened her eyes.

Blinking a few times, she sat up and looked around the room, even after all of this time it was still surprising to see that so many people cared about her, but ultimately, her gaze fell upon the blonde who was slightly slumped in her chair, but still looked very much awake.

Though she had not been seen by anyone in the room, she had seen how willing the saviour had been to sacrifice half of her heart. There was no one else that she would rather share such a bond with, but that didn't change the risk she had just taken.

"Idiot," she said in a hoarse voice.

A smile spread across Emma's face and she leaned forward to capture her girlfriend's lips in a chaste kiss that somehow managed to convey everything she hadn't been sure Regina had been able to hear her say in the last couple of days. Though it did help that they now shared a heart, it felt almost as if they could sense how the other was feeling.

The blonde pulled back slightly and whispered, "I love you too."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed, I would love to hear what you thought XD**


	18. Chapter 18

**T/W for some violence**

Chapter eighteen

Regina blinked a few times and looked around the room once her girlfriend leaned back in her chair.

There was a time when she wouldn't have imagined that there would be so many people gathered around her sick bed, especially considering Snow White and Prince Charming could be counted in their ranks. But now, all she saw around her was her family, she had her parents, Emma and now both of her children.

At the last thought, her eyes immediately trained upon the crib where Tamsin appeared to have slept through the commotion of her mother splitting her heart in two.

She then noticed something that probably should have been the first thing she registered, "Snow…" she began, she wasn't quite sure what to ask, mostly because it was fairly obvious why the woman was in a wheelchair, mostly because she had witnessed all of it.

Snow smiled weakly and was about to explain, until the former Evil Queen interrupted and said, "do you have any idea of where Zelena took him?"

A shocked silence fell over the room and Emma eventually asked, "how do you…"

Regina rolled her eyes and replied, "I will explain later, we have bigger issues, wouldn't you agree?"

The blonde just nodded and said, "we were hoping that you would be able to help save him."

Brown eyes fell on the black arm bound that her girlfriend had been forced to wear and she instantly softened. She knew it couldn't have been easy to choose between her son and brother, and as selfish as it was, she was rather happy that she would have a chance to get a shot at her sister after what she tried to do to Tamsin. It was then that her eyes trained upon Henry who was smiling uncontrollably at the fact she was awake. Her eyes fell down to his neck where there was a very noticeable cut. She had seen what Zelena had tried to do to her son, but seeing the results in person made her blood boil.

"How do you suppose I'll be able to help?" she sighed turning back to Emma.

"Magic," the saviour replied as if it were obvious.

"It takes light magic to take that witch," the brunette pointed out.

"We have a theory about that actually," Cora announced and her daughter looked at her expectantly. "You were able to protect Tamsin with an act of True Love, plus you now share a heart with the saviour, by all rights, your magic should be a mixture of light and dark."

At the news, Regina swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up with all the confidence that most people who woke up from comas usually lacked.

"Let's go then," she said after pulling the arm band off Emma in one swift motion, she began walking towards the door.

* * *

"Do we have a plan?" Emma whispered, she was aware that she probably did it closer to Regina's ear than was necessary, but she couldn't help but crave closeness after the past couple days of hell.

"I think stopping my insane sister from opening a time portal will be fine for now," Regina laughed as she approached the barn that her parents had tracked a large pool of magical energy to. She was oddly relaxed despite the situation, it could have been because she had the saviour by her side with all of her power returned, or because the former Queen of Hearts and the Dark One was at the hospital protecting her children. Not even having Charming present irritated her as much as he usually did, even if he was understandably tense as they approached the place where the Wicked Witch had taken his youngest child.

"So we just fire wildly at her?" Emma chuckled, she had sincerely missed her girlfriend, she was sure she wouldn't be nearly as calm in this situation without the other woman present, mostly because she was pretty sure that the former Evil Queen would have kicked her sister's ass a long time ago had there not been that stupid rule about using light magic.

"Do you have something better?" the brunette returned with a smirk.

"Can we focus, please?" David sighed, he understood that Emma was happy to have Regina back, but they could exchange their yearning looks later.

"Sorry," Emma replied, and Regina chose to point out later that it almost as if her father had actually told her off.

Finally, the three of them snuck up to the entrance of the barn and found Zelena muttering the incantations with her four symbols at each point of the square she had drawn in the dirt. Regina and David's eyes each fell upon the baby wailing violently in a basket, but the saviour seemed to be focused on something else.

"Why is there a tray of dust?" Emma whispered.

Regina tried not to roll her eyes at the blonde's curiosity and replied, "I would imagine that it's the remains of my heart which she's using as a symbol of love. Now would you mind focusing?"

Emma nodded which caused her girlfriend to just shake her head in disapproval.

Through the distraction, none of them noticed that the mutterings of the witch had come to an abrupt end and she was staring straight at them, at least not until David nudged Emma and she and Regina's eyes each snapped up to look at the red head.

The woman's face seemed to be consumed by anger as she looked at her little sister and she finally said, "how is it fair that things always work out for you?"

The mayor raised her eyebrow at the other woman, she was sure that she was one step away from stamping her foot childishly, "I'm a very patient person," she replied sardonically.

Zelena huffed and turned to continue her spell only to have her outstretched arm engulfed in a purple glow, the witch's eyes widened and she spun on her heels, "that's impossible," she hissed.

Regina shook her head and replied, "its rather ironic that you're the one who gave me the opportunity to turn my magic from dark to light. Honestly, you can blame your defeat on yourself."

The red head clenched her free hand and quickly sent a blast of energy at the blonde man who had been trying to sneak towards his son. The prince was quickly sent flying into the wall and he fell to the floor unconscious the next moment. A green glow also engulfed the saviour rendering her unable to move from her position.

"You've chosen quite the rescue party, haven't you?"

Regina inspected the look on Emma's face as she looked over to her father and she instantly felt anger consume her, how dare the witch do something that hurt the woman she loved?

The next moment, the brunette sent a similar blast of energy towards her sister, sending her sprawling across the floor. Instantly, Emma was released from the spell and she ran across the barn to her father's side.

Zelena looked up as Regina approached her, and she tried to weakly protest even though she could already feel unconsciousness beginning to take her.

"Not…fair…"

The mayor ignored the older woman's protests and leaned down to rip the necklace from around her neck.

She heard someone scrambling to their feet behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Charming pick up the wailing child. After a moment, the boy began to quiet down, clearly he felt safe in his father's arms.

With a wave of her hand, Zelena disappeared in a cloud of smoke, without the pendant she was pretty sure that the holding cell would be sufficient to hold the Wicked Witch.

They collectively let out a sigh of relief and Charming said, "thank you, Regina."

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed.**

 **One more chapter to go, hopefully it should be up soon :)**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

"Why are you staring at me?" Regina asked as she turned away from the stroller where her daughter was happily snoozing.

Emma tilted her head, keeping her head balanced on her fist and smirked, "why can't I stare at my girlfriend?"

"Because...it's weird," the brunette laughed.

Emma rolled her eyes and brought her hand across the table, which Regina met with her own without hesitation, "the last two days were a living hell."

"I know."

"Speaking of which, how did you know what happened?" the saviour asked.

Regina looked uncomfortable for a moment and considered whether this piece of information would bother the blonde.

"I…was an apparition of sorts," she admitted.

"So you were a ghost?" Emma returned and received a nod, "and you saw everything?"

"If you are referring to your magic lesson, I saw all of it," the mayor laughed.

Emma sighed and replied, "will you please be my teacher again?"

"But you learnt so much from my mother," Regina replied in faux seriousness.

The blonde pouted and Regina rolled her eyes, "fine, but if you try to distract me again you'll have to go back to her."

Emma nodded vigorously, and fell back into her seat with a broad smile on her face.

"What?" Regina laughed nervously.

"It's comforting…knowing you were there the entire time."

"I am very difficult to be rid of, Sheriff, you know that," the brunette chuckled.

"The lack of heart gave me pause," Emma laughed.

Regina instantly frowned and said, "it's not too late to change my mind about you, Miss Swan."

"I'm pretty sure it is now that we have two kids, Regina, speaking of which," Emma dug into her pocket and allowed her hand to close around what she had been carrying around since they had left New York. She was just glad that Hook had agreed to occupy Henry while she went to a jewellery store. After a deep breath, she pulled the box out of her pocket and placed it on the table. "I should have done this a long time ago…"

Regina blinked a few times and stared at the velvet box that her girlfriend had placed on the table. They had of course talked about marriage, but after she broke Pan's curse, she was pretty sure that there was no way that it would ever happen.

Emma took her silence as assent and stood from the booth, in one swift motion, she grabbed the box and fell to one knee, "will you marry me, Regina?"

Before the mayor could reply, a squeak could be heard along with the bell ringing out, and everyone in the diner who had been silently watching the scene turned to see Snow, with Charming behind her trying to get the stroller through the door.

The saviour looked over at her mother and instantly smiled at how excited the brunette looked, Snow quickly nodded in encouragement.

Regina rolled her eyes, though she was still smiling, trust Snow White to interrupt her moment. But unlike all the other times, she found that she couldn't be angry at the woman who gave her Emma, especially since her nod seemed to be all the permission she needed. Not that she wanted the Charming's approval, or at least that was what she told herself.

"Regina…" Emma whispered, her voice now slightly laced with nervousness.

The mayor looked down at the sheriff and realised that she had yet to answer her question, finally she said, "of course I will."

The blonde let out a sigh of relief and rose to her feet to place the ring on the offered finger. She then leaned down and placed a quick peck on her fiancés lips.

The diner quickly erupted in applause and Regina laughed as the saviour fell back into her seat with bright red cheeks.

* * *

-Fourteen years later-

Henry pulled up to the white mansion which he had moved out of eleven years ago and took a moment to look at his childhood home. It still looked exactly as it had when he was ten, but he knew that everything would be completely different when he entered.

For one thing, it wouldn't just be Regina there to greet him.

He now had two sets of grandparents, another mother, two sisters, an uncle and even an aunt. It had certainly been a hard road to redemption for Zelena, but neither Cora nor Regina were willing to give up on the red-head. Even if the former witch spent a considerable amount of time in the institution, constant visits seemed to convince her that her vendetta was ill placed. She was now as important in his family as any other member, and even if he regretted the way he treated his mother before the curse broke, he could hardly argue with the results that it brought. His family tree was insane, but it was still perfect.

Stepping out of his car, he grabbed his duffel bag and walked straight to the front door.

"Hello?" he called.

Regina emerged from the kitchen within a moment and smiled at her little boy, who was no longer so little.

"I thought you were coming up tomorrow," she replied, still taking the chance to hug him.

"I'm a writer, mom, my schedule is pretty flexible."

Regina rolled her eyes, and pulled away from the hug, though she was still smiling broadly, "so maybe you could visit more often?"

Henry chuckled and said, "I'm here nearly all of the time."

Before Regina could try to argue, even if she knew that he was right, the front door opened and someone stormed without greeting the two people in front of her and went straight upstairs.

Emma walked in looking completely unfazed and let go of the nine-year-old's hand, but the girl still remained close to her.

"What did you do to Tamsin?" Regina sighed.

"Nothing," the blonde replied incredulously.

Regina raised her eyebrow at her wife and then looked down to the girl next to her, "what did your mother do, Emily?"

"She said Tamsin couldn't go to the cinema with Caine," the brunette replied instantly.

"Traitor," the blonde hissed, causing her youngest daughter to giggle. Regina and Emma had actually spoken extensively about this, the blonde was supposed to have given her permission after not allowing her to go on the last date.

"We talked about this Emma," Regina said lowly and Henry let out a small bark of laughter.

"She's fourteen," the blonde sighed.

"Henry went out with Violet when he was thirteen."

"That's different," Emma sighed.

"Being a little sexist, aren't you, ma?" Henry asked.

"You want your little sister to go out on a date?"

The brunette grimaced and shook his head, "no, but you know if you don't give her permission she'll just do it anyway. At least this way you know where she is."

Emma narrowed her eyes and finally sighed, "Fine…Tamsin," she called.

The teenager came down the stairs a moment later with a frown deeply etched upon her face, "what?"

Emma narrowed her eyes and her fellow blonde instantly let her shoulders fall from their tense position, "what do you want, ma?" she sighed.

"I overreacted, you can go to the movies as long as you finish all of your homework."

Tamsin looked at her suspiciously for a moment, before she turned on her heels and hugged Regina, "thank you, mom."

"Hey!" Emma called indignantly.

The blonde ignored her mother and Regina just laughed as she brought her arm around her daughter, Tamsin looked over at her other mother and said, "mom convinced you didn't she?"

Emma nodded and Tamsin turned back around to hug Regina.

The blonde rolled her eyes and then turned to Emily, "never become a teenager, okay?"

The little brunette giggled and nodded, leaning into her mother's side with a hug.

As chaotic as it was, everything was perfect in the Swan-Mills household.

 **A/N Hope you guys enjoyed this fic XD**

 **I know a few people were expecting Zelena to be punished in some way, but I don't feel like it would have made sense considering the whole family vibe in this fic haha sorry if you were expecting something but it just didn't feel right to me.**

 **Anyway, I would love to hear what you thought, and I need to thank QueenApples for being the amazing beta that she is XD**


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